Glass 
Book 



MEMOIE 

OF THE 

KEY. DAVID SANDEMAN. 



1 THE 



Elf, DAY] D SAMMiAM 




B N S K E I D 
JAMES N1SBET & C° LONDON. 

r 



MEMOIE 

OF THE 

LIFE AND BKIEF MINISTBY 

OF THE 

REV. DAVID SANDEMAN, 

MISSIONARY TO CHINA. 



BY THE 

EE V. ANDEEW A. BONAR, 

AUTHOR OF THE " MEMOIR OF REV. R. M. M'CHEYNE," &C. 




LONDON: 

JAMES NISBET & CO., BEKNERS STREET. 
1861. 



EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY JOHN GREIG AND SON. 



PREFACE. 



Ix complying with the request made to me to 
undertake the Memoir of a beloved friend, who, in 
his thirty-second year, fell asleep in Jesus, I felt that 
in so doing I might be said to be writing "words 
concerning the King." For, the example set forth 
here is that of one whose rare single-inindedness, 
affection to his Lord, watchfulness of spirit, and most 
cheerful self-sacrifice in the Master's service, shew 
what gifts our King can give to His own ; and may 
stir us up to serve that same Lord, as men should do 
in whose ear the trumpet-voice is ringing. " Now it 
is high time to awake out of sleep ! for now is your 
salvation nearer than when you believed. The night 
is far spent, the day is at hand'' (Eom. xiii. 11, 12). 

Mr Sandeman's like-minded brother, Frederick, 
with the aid of his intimate friend, Mr Coventry, 



PBEFACE. 



furnished the materials to my hand. They prepared 
the stones for the building, and my chief work has 
been putting the stones in their place. 

" Let the beauty of our Lord God be upon us ! 
and establish thou the work of our hands upon us ; 
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it !" 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

CHAPTER I. 

His Conversion, 1 

CHAPTER n. 

The First Year after Conversion, . . . .15 

CHAPTER ni. 
His Days of Study for the Ministry, . . . .55 

CHAPTER IT. 
The Sinner and the Saviour, 101 

CHAPTER V. 

His Public Ministrations at Home, . . . .139 

CHAPTER VI. 
Fragments : — Self-Examination — Letters — Sermons, . 177 



CHAPTER Yn. 
His Brief Career in China, 253 



CHAPTER I 



" Wherewith shall I come before the Lord ? " 

Micah vi. 6. 



'■'Let Israel rejoice in Him that made hira" (Ps. 
cxlix. 2), is a call of the Holy Spirit addressed to 
those who have been made new, and made meet for 
the glory that is to be revealed, by Him who gave 
them their being. **Whatever a believing man is, he 
owes it all to the sovereign grace of his God, who 
made him a vessel of honour ; for his " willing and 
running" (Rom. ix. 1 6) came not from himself, but 
originated with God, " who sheweth mercy/' 

It was entirely so with him of whom these pages 
speak. David Sandeman, second son of Glas San- 
deman, Esq. of Bonskied, was born at Perth, 23d 
April 1826. The pleasant residence of this prosper- 
ous family was Springland, close to the river Tay, 
within a mile of the town, and not far from a 
locality renowned in Scottish history, the old palace 
of Scone, where the kings of Scotland used to be 
crowned. 



4 



EDUCATION. 



In his infancy lie was somewhat more sedate than 
children usually are, and in boyhood shewed no great 
interest in games that delighted his companions ; yet 
he was always fearless in manly exercises, a bold 
rider, skater, and swimmer. It was not quickness, 
but perseverance, that distinguished him from other 
boys, along with regularity in all his habits and a 
strong sense of duty. At school, while his companions 
loved him for his kindliness, his teachers remarked 
his diligence and conscientious industry,which enabled 
him to outstrip cleverer scholars, so much so, that the 
rector of Perth Academy, Dr Miller, testified, in re- 
ferring to his mathematical studies, that to him be- 
longed the praise of bringing forward the entire dass 
of which he was a member. 

The only incident of his younger years which seems 
marked by any special interest is his being sent, at 
the age of fifteen, to the Pestalozzian Institution 
at Worksop, in Nottinghamshire, conducted by Dr 
Hildenmaier. There, besides laying the foundation of 
other acquirements, he began to learn French and 
German, for in that Institution conversation was 
carried on in both these languages ; and it may be 
that this circumstance contributed to foster his liking 
to foreign tongues, and may thus have had some 
remote influence, in after years, in deciding his mind 
toward China, At this place, too, his youthful affec- 



UNCONVERTED STILL. 



5 



tions were drawn out by the kindness of his instruc- 
tors, and his mind developed amid pleasant scenery ; 
his common excursions, even in seasons of recreation, 
being to such spots in the neighbourhood as Chats- 
worth or Welbect Abbey. 

At this period he rose early, was thorough in the 
preparation of lessons., acted conscientiously, shewed 
great respect to the teachings of the Word of God, 
and observed the forms of godliness as others round 
him did. Many would have thought that he had the 
fear of God before his eyes. It was not so, however, 
at that period, though the Lord was keeping abundant 
mercy for him. The instrumentality employed in 
bringing about his change was of various kinds, as 
is perhaps most frequently the case with the Lord's 
work in conversion. He himself, in reference to agents 
employed by the Lord in effecting such changes, made 
the interesting remark in after years to a friend at 
Jordanhill — "It is just like a large vessel returning 
laden with goods ; it will be found at last that every 
individual believer has had a share in the ingathering 
of souls. As for myself, when letting down the 
Gospel-net, I always feel that other believers are 
letting it down along with me/' 

We have his own testimony that he lived eighteen 
years without God. Thus, in 1849, he writes in 
looking back : — 



6 



UNCONVERTED STILL. 



" For eighteen years of my life I believe that I was 
truly without the knowledge of God. During all that 
time, my conduct was never influenced by the thought 
of His existence as a person, or of any thing I did 
being pleasing or displeasing to Him. Assuredly I 
worshipped as the heathen at Athens, an ' unknown 
God;' or as the Samaritans, I 'knew not what/ 
Anything like a knowledge of Him was a vague, 
undefined sense or fear of future retribution for 
evil done, and that a God, a powerful Being, would 
inflict it. 

" An undefined sense of duty, my parents, masters, 
emulation among my fellow-pupils, carnal lusts, and 
above all — 6 self ; these, I believe, w r ere my gods ; at 
least, they held all the place where God should have 
been. 

" I was dissatisfied or happy, entirely as I managed 
to please or displease them. Of the worship due to 
Jehovah, the God of Abraham, I was as ignorant as a 
stock or stone/' 

On 4th April 1852, he takes a similar review of 
the past : — " This day corresponds to the Sabbath of 
my new birth. I still bitterly repent the time 1 
spent in Satan's service. It is unmingled bitterness : 
I went smoothly on in utter disregard of Christ. I 
never honoured Him as God, as my Creator, my 
Judge, and my risen Redeemer. I was a decent rebel, 



INSTRUMENTS. 



7 



outwardly respectable, but in reality a despiser of 
Christ." 

And yet from infancy he had been taught by his 
parents the way of salvation, and had been moving 
among those who not only knew the Lord, but also 
adorned the Gospel by their holy life. Often doen 
he refer, at a later period, to his mother's prayers 
and anxious yearnings over him in those days ; some- 
times to books put into his hands ; and also to faith- 
ful ministers whose preaching of Christ and His sal- 
vation he felt to be impressive. Still for eighteen 
years his soul was dead to God. In the years 1839 
and 1840, the ministry of Mr Millar, then minister 
of St Leonard's, Perth (now of the Free Church at 
Clunie), and next that of Mr Milne, his successor, 
produced a considerable impression on his mind, 
which was deepened by attending the services con- 
ducted by Mr W. C. Burns, now missionary in China, 
during a season of revival. It was only then that he 
began to see what the sinner is by nature, and what 
is the way of escape. A friend remembers meeting 
him and his two brothers in the lobby of the church, 
after a sermon by Mr Burns on the words — " Deliver 
from going down to the pit ; I have found a ran- 
som;" and how, with a solemn expression of coun- 
tenance, he said, " I never knew till to-night what 
my Saviour did for me.*" Sacramental seasons also, 



8 



GLASGOW. 



at that period, used to give an impulse to his feelings. 
For about two years he remained in this half- 
awakened state. 

In December 1842, he came to Glasgow to learn 
business. Blameless from infancy to the world's eye, 
ever ready to shew kindness to others, kept, too, by 
the hand of a gracious God from all outward vice, and 
even the appearance of evil, nevertheless he was, and 
knew that he was, unconverted. He had gone only 
so far as nature may go ; he was not born of God. 
One step onward he seemed to take in Glasgow — 
namely, he was taught the lesson of the world's utter 
insufficiency to give the soul what it craves. " He 
that drinketh of this water shall thirst again," was 
his experience. 

He maintained the form of prayer, and even of 
Christian converse, with those with whom he boarded. 
The ministration of Mr Somerville of Anderston, 
whom he had fixed on as his pastor, interested him, 
and roused his soul from time to time ; while visits 
to a circle of Christian friends, to whom he was in- 
troduced, contributed to keep the things of salvation 
more and more before his mind. Then came the 
memorable Disruption of the Church of Scotland 
in 1843. Having carefully watched the progress of 
the great controversy, he had no hesitation in follow- 
ing his minister out of the Establishment, and in 



MR SOMERVILLE 'S CONVERSATION. 9 



giving his hearty adherence to the principles of the 
Free Church, persuaded as he was that the Free 
Church held the truth by which the Great Head of 
the Church is honoured, and might therefore expect 
His blessing. 

In the beginning of April 1844, being about to 
have Glasgow, he called upon Mr Somerville, who 
took the opportunity of frankly inquiring into the 
state of his soul, The conversation made such an 
impression on his mind, that he has recorded part of 
it in his journal : — " You say" (said Mr Somerville 
to him) " that you do not care for the world — that it 
is not that which keeps you from Christ, or anything 
connected with it. You have now been more than a 
year in this place. You came anxious about your 
spiritual state, and you go away in the same manner. 
How long is this to continue ? If it is nothing in the 
world that prevents your coming to Christ, it must 
be the unwillingness of your own heart/' He then 
added, " I would beseech you not to rise from your 
chair till you have accepted Christ's free, full, and 
open offer of salvation to all who will come to Him ! n 
Both the words and the solemn earnestness with 
which they were spoken affected him deeply. It was 
an interview which he never ceased to remember. 

In this state of soul he returned to Sjiringland. 
The time of the dispensation of the Lord's Supper 



10 



PEESSED TO DECIDE. 



was drawing on, which naturally led his mother to say 
to him, " David, did you ever give yourself to Christ ? 
You have no right to remain one week without loving 
Him/' His pastor also, Mr Milne, met him, and 
urged on him the duty of professing his faith in the 
Lord Jesus, by taking his place in the number of 
communicants. He objected, specially stating his 
fear of bringing dishonour on the cause of Christ by 
his inconsistency, as well as the difficulty he felt 
regarding his personal state. This same month his 
eighteenth birthday came round, in connection with 
which a thought had been very seasonably presented 
to his mind by a passage in Angell James's " Father's 
Present to his Children 99 — a passage in which it is 
remarked that the usual time when persons decide 
for the Lord, or for the world, is from the age of 
fourteen to eighteen. " I felt," says he, " as if this 
might be the case with me." The fact that the Lord's 
Supper was to be dispensed in the congregation roused 
his conscience to the anxious inquiry, Am I in a state 
fit for that ordinance ? His honest conclusion was 
that he could not go to the Lord's table, for as yet 
he was not willing unreservedly to give himself to 
the Lord. " I was still rejecting" (these are his words) 
"the waiting Saviour's free calls to come. I was 
wilfully sinning against what I knew so well. I was 
an open rebel, so much the guiltier because brought 



THE NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 



11 



up near Him, and so well acquainted with His 
law." 

On the Sabbath evening, with these feelings dis- 
quieting him, he had engaged in prayer with his 
sister, and retired to his room. Then it was that the 
Lord found the sheep that was lost, and laid it on 
His shoulder. While pondering alone on his spiritual 
condition, his heart was drawn out " by the omnipo- 
tent hand of God" to think simply of Christ, and the 
;,/ willingness of Christ to receive all who have a true 
wish to come to Him." He says he knew that this 
wish was not of man, but of the Holy Ghost;* it 
was the Lord who enabled him now to take Christ 
as all his salvation and all his desire. That was the 
evening (7th April) when he for the first time felt 
his soul cast anchor on the Rock of Ages. 

Hear his strains of adoring gratitude: — " The 
Lord God Almighty, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy 
Ghost, the triune Jehovah, be praised, be eternally 
glorified ! " " I may henceforth call God my hope, 
my only hope, my life, my death (for I would as it 
were fall asleep in Him), my all ! the high, the 
mighty, the glorious work of salvation ! How it sinks 
man, and raises and exalts the God of salvation V* 

Soon after we find him saying that his short ex- 
perience has already given him proof of his heart's 
* John i. 12, 13. 



12 



HIS PRAYERFULNESS BEGUN. 



proneness to depart even from this God of love, and 
that he could not of himself continue for a single 
instant abiding there. But here is his prayer — " 
my soul, expect everything from the Lord Jesus. 
He is encircling thee in his arms of love, ever watch- 
ing to preserve thee from danger/' And very re- 
markable it is to find one characteristic of all his after 
course at once beginning to develop itself — namely, 
his sense of the immense importance of prayer. 
"Continually, in prayer, ask his direction. Thou 
hast as it were only to whisper, or rather breathe, 
complete dependence upon Him, and ask Him to 
work for thee, by thee, through thee, and He will 
do what seemeth Him good/' 

Having come to Christ, he must join those who 
can say, "My beloved is mine/' Accordingly, he 
sat down at the Lord's table, seven days after this, 
in St Leonard's Free Church, presided over by his 
beloved friend Mr Milne. His entrance into the 
marvellous light had been distinct and clear. His 
experience at this period is such as calls up to our 
thoughts the spiritual history of one of our fathers, 
Fraser of Brea. At the age of eighteen, this man of 
God heard intimation made that the Lord's Supper 
was to be dispensed next Lord's day, which led him 
to solemn searching regarding his fitness to go to 
that ordinance. He wished to go, and knew that 



A PARALLEL CASE. 



13 



he ought to go ; but then he also knew that he ought 
to be converted first, and feared that if he went in a 
Christless state " he might give over hopes of ever 
thereafter being converted/' Full of these thoughts, 
he, before the Sabbath came, set himself to seek the 
Lord Jesus. While thus alone in his closet, solemnly 
considering the state of his soul, the Lord enabled 
him all at once to perceive that Christ was a Saviour 
indeed — a full Saviour, the sinner's Saviour, gloriously- 
complete in His work and in His offices, because so 
glorious in His person, and no less glorious in His 
love and grace. "Where am I now ! what is this !" 
were his first words of adoring wonder. " Heart and 
hand, and all that I have, is thine ! Begone, poor 
world!" Next Sabbath found him seated _at the 
table of his Lord 



CHAPTER II 

%\t first |'car after Conlursien. 



• What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards 
me?" 

Psalm cxvi. 12. 



Neither strangers nor friends could fail to notice 

something sombre in Lis character in his early days. 

But after his conversion, this shade no longer hung 

on his brow. One who knew him well remarked, 

" It was the love of J esus which first put that smile 

on his face which never left it/' For a time, even 

after his bark was safely in the haven, he had the 

heavings, if not the tossings, of the tempest that 

chased him into his refuge ; but certain it is, that 

from the day he was able to say, " I know whom I 

have believed/' his was a joyous countenance, so 

much so, that you might have pointed to him as a 

most obvious illustration of the apostolic injunction, 

"Eejoice in the Lord always." The glory of God in 

the face of J esus shed gladness through his heart, a 

gladness that his companions often took notice of, 

and which they felt to be infectious. 

We saw one of his characteristics, viz., prayerful- 

B 



18 



THE COMMUNION TABLE. 



ness, beginning to shew itself on the very night of 
his conversion. It was not long ere another distinc- 
tive trait appeared, viz., the desire to be of use to 
others. With him it was first liberty, then service ; 
the work not of the hireling seeking to purchase 
freedom, but of the son serving the father whom he 
loved. Perhaps his early zeal approached the borders 
of censoriousness ; his light flung out sparks, but soon 
it burnt upward with a calm, steady flame. 

We left him at the Communion Table. See him 
now rising from it to go forth and work for his Lord. 
The question of personal acceptance had been first 
settled, and now there followed the grateful acknow- 
ledgment of the accepted soul in the full surrender of 
all his life to the service of the Eedeemer. One met 
him coming from the communion table and asked, 
" Were you happy ?" " So happy that I fear to trust 
it. What a salvation ! Shall not life be spent in 
proclaiming it V' This utterance of his soul in that 
hour of bliss was embodied in action during all his 
after days. We may fancy him singing with Toplady, 

u Loved of my God, for him again 
With love intense I burn !" 

Immediately after we find him noting down, in the 
review of his past life, " I have already lived two 
years and 208 days of Sabbaths !" Then follow the 
two first entries in his journal, which present to us the 



PRAYERFTJLNESS. 



19- 



traits of his spiritual character, that all along so dis- 
tinctly marked him out from most others, viz., prayer- 
fulness, and labour for souls. Thus he writes : — 

" May 6. — I wish that more progress were visible ; 
but it is in truth a pure impossibility for man, in his 
own strength, to begin or to maintain a walk with 
God. My evil passions and wicked heart are conti- 
nually interfering and leading me off, almost before I 
am aware of it. It is only by a continual renewing of 
my covenant with Christ, trusting everything to Him 
and nothing to myself, that I can ever expect to walk 
as I ousfht : and from this must follow a most rigid 
watching over my heart and conduct to others. Pray 
WITHOUT CEASING."* 

" Lord, give me a more earnest prayerful spirit 
for my dear unconverted friends. If I would but 
think seriously of their condition, that each of them 
is continually fighting against his Lord, inflicting new 
wounds on Jesus' s breast, and yet it is the very hand 
which they are wounding that prevents them dropping 
into everlasting misery ! How can I rest one moment 
while I do assuredly know that such is the case. 
Lord Jesus, shew but Thy face to them, shew them 

* These words are found written in the original Greek, Ad/a- 
XiiTTCfj; K£(j6i'oyj6k" on a slip of paper that lay in his desk : and 
the initial letters "a- T." may be tracked throughout his note- 
books. 



20 



EFFORTS FOR OTHERS BEGUN. 



their terrible, awful condition and certain doom, if 
they remain indifferent, shew them but a spark of 
Thy incomprehensible love, and O then how they will 
be changed ! Thou holdest every man's heart in 
Thy hand, O Lord ; if it be Thy will, change their 
hearts. Would it not be for Thy everlasting glory ? 
"Will they not have longer to praise and glorify Thee ? 
Lord, give me no rest till I have done all that man 
can do. Let me be often pouring forth earnest sup- 
plications for them. And surely I cannot doubt but 
that Thou wilt be graciously pleased to answer : ' for 
this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we 
ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us." 

And now, having found (i the joy of salvation," he 
can say, " I will teach transgressors thy ways, and 
sinners shall be converted unto thee" (Psa. li. 13). 
For his faith was aggressive; he did not content him- 
self with " sitting under his vine and fig-tree/' but (as 
Israel shall do in the day of their return), he also 
"called his neighbour" to enjoy the same refreshing 
fruit and shade (Zech. iii. 10). 

" Monday, May 26. — I have been trying to speak 
to several persons about their eternal state, but see 
well that it is only by God speaking through me that 
it can be of the smallest benefit to their souls." 

At the same time, he in no way relaxes his vigi- 
lance over his own soul : — 



A DECEITFUL HEART. 



21 



"My father presented me with a Bible, which I 
hope will incite me to greater diligence in searching 
the Scriptures. I have to grieve over the continual 
changes in my religious feelings and affections. At 
times Jesus enables me to feel supremely happy in 
Him, while often a few hours after I seem to have 
everything, to begin again, and from some evil imagi- 
nation of my heart, I feel as it were estranged from 
Jesus. This must be meant to teach me that I must 
be ever looking to Him, incessantly watching and 
praying, never withdrawing my hand from a firm 
hold of His merciful, His gracious arm. This con- 
stant vagrant disposition of my mind shews truly what 
the natural heart is. It is made of carnality, which 
is enmity against God, and is therefore ever making 
efforts to draw away from God. This truth is what, 
I believe, every one who is Christ's will be taught, 
and will have it graven upon his heart, as with a pen 
of iron and the point of a diamond. O Lord, change 
my nature from that of a sinful man to that of the 
meek and lowly Jesus ! Thou must work the change ; 
look at thine own Son Jesus, and do Thou it for His 
sake/' 

Another effort follows. 

" June 6. — I have taken up a class for young men 
and was pleased to see four at our meeting. Resolved, 
in God's strength and with His help, always if possible 



22 



HAKLAN PAGE. 



to engage alone in prayer before commencing to read, 
teach, or pray with any one, on these all important 
subjects." 

Just at this period, the Life of Harlan Page, which 
bis mother put into his hands, attracted his special 
attention. In reading it, he was very greatly im- 
pressed ; bis hopes of being used by God in saving 
souls received a great impulse. At the same time, 
he noted carefully that Harlan Page was not blessed 
without earnestly praying for it, being instant in 
prayer for unconverted friends, as well as taking op- 
portunity to write to them and speak with them ; 
availing himself, also, of openings that occurred for 
prayer meetings and classes. On laying down the 
book, a book to which he often resorted, this was 
his prayer : — 

" Lord, who holdest the hearts of all men in Thy 
right hand, do Thou be pleased to make me, by Thy 
grace, a means of bringing poor, careless, and dying 
sinners to the Rock of Ages, and make me inde- 
fatigable in labouring for their conversion ; prevent 
my heart from becoming cold in this work, and my 
zeal from flagging, for it is Thy work and not mine/' 
Soon after, his soul rejoices in his work begun. 
" June 10. — Thanks be to God, for I think He 
has enabled me to feel as a hired servant, as a servant 
bought with a price, and staying all upon Him, to 



CONCERN FOR THE CARELESS. 



23 



await His shewing me the path by following which 
I may be enabled to do most to His glory/' 

The thought of unsaved souls hangs heavy on his 
mind. 

" June 12. — Lord, give me such thoughts of the 
awful condition of unconverted sinners, that I may 
not cease from continually warning them of their 
imminent danger, that they may flee from the wrath 
to come. How awful to think that the spirits of any 
of those within my reach should rise up in judgment 
against me, and say that I had not told them the truth. 
Some to whom I have spoken seem to be anxious, 
and particularly some of the cottars. May this be 
but the beginning of the falling of a dew from heaven." 

And now we have his statement of his experience 
in regard to the healthful influence, upon his own 
soul, of all efforts made in behalf of others. Again and 
again, in after days, does he make similar statements. 
He gave what he received, and in giving got more. 

i( June 18. — I find that unless lam continually 
doing something for the souls of unthinking sinners, 
my love becomes cold, and a deadening effect is the 
result, which soon spreads into everything/' Yet it 
was not easy for the flesh at first, though ultimately 
he won the victory. " I have to grieve/' says he, "over 
a feeling of unwillingness, and even irksomeness, to 
go and speak to persons about their eternal salvation. 



2t 



PRAYER FOR ZEAL. 



Am I stone ? Am I hardened as adamant ? How 
can I allow such feelings to gain the mastery ; they 
are called natural, but are they natural ? If these 
persons were in imminent danger of falling a prey to 
wild beasts in the desert, would I not flee to their 
rescue ? Lord, touch this heart which is so cold and 
senseless. Thy countenance can make it ever full of 
love for deluded sinners/' 

After again perusing Harlan Page, he writes : — 
" When on my deathbed, how will every effort, every 
trial to bring souls to Jesus, seem cold and lifeless. 
O for the mind of the Lord when He wept over Jeru- 
salem ! Give me, Lord J esus, a heart to weep for poor 
sinners, a heart to bleed for poor sinners, a heart to 
pour out itself in prayer for poor sinners. Thou 
knowest the weakness and coldness of my pleadings 
for unconcerned sinners. O give me faith, give me 
love, burning, unquenchable love to do all I can in 
God's strength to convince those living without Thee, 
that they are wilfully throwing themselves into destruc- 
tion, that they are of their own free wiiZ-casting from 
them everlasting salvation, and embracing eternal 
damnation. O that I had a forehead as Ezekiel, ' as 
adamant harder than flint/ that I might speak the 
Lord s will to every man/' 

There was nothing of bondage in David Sandeman's 
unceasing service ; his was the filial obedience of one 



GEORGE PHILIPS. 



25 



who, by Christ, could enter the Holiest of all, and could 
look up to the Holy One and cry, " Abba, Father." 
This confidence in his Lord, this boldness to enter by 
the blood of Jesus, this assurance of the acceptance of 
his person in the Beloved, and therefore of his ser- 
vices, was the secret spring of that untiring delight he 
manifested in waiting for his God. Let us hear him 
speak on this point. He has been reading a little 
book, " Glimpses into the World to Come/' by a young 
friend, George Philips, and here are his remarks : — 
" George Philips's case remarkably shews that God 
must be sought only through the merits of Jesus. 
For six years he was concerned about his soul, and 
could obtain no peace. But then he yielded much 
to going in with irreligious friends in trifling, and for 
long had not resolution to tell them boldly why he 
would no longer join with them. A more prolonged 
and chief occasion of his want of peace was his looking 
to his frames, and confiding in the earnestness of his 
prayers as the ground of his acceptance with God ; 
and it w r as only when he saw the freeness of the 
Gospel offer, made only through the blood of J esus, 
and when all suspicions of God were removed, that 
peace flowed into his mind, and that but shortly be- 
fore his death." 

His first visit to a cottage on the errand of salva- 
tion, is thus recorded : — 



26 RELUCTANCE TO SPEAK TO SOULS, 



" Went for first time this evening to address a man 
and his wife on their eternal condition. During 
prayer, felt strong desire that what I said might not 
be made the savour of death unto death to their souls. 
After leaving them, I felt so strongly the awful con- 
dition of lost, unthinking sinners, that I was con- 
strained to go and speak to some of the cottars, par- 
ticularly one family of whom I had heard/' 

Once more we see what had to be overcome ere 
he attained the freedom and readiness to deal with 
souls that afterwards he reached. Let it encourage 
others. 

" I now feel the inward hardness of the heart more 
than formerly, and that languor formerly referred to 
as stealing over the soul when once active work for 
God is intermitted. It is undoubtedly the case that 
there is a secret reluctance to speak plainly to un- 
thinking men, unless we are specially endued with 
a sense of eternal things, and that so strongly as to 
conquer the natural evil of the heart. But if there is 
much secret striving with God, and then* going in His 
strength boldly to the work, many a seeming diffi- 
culty will vanish ; we are strengthened above what we 
thought for, and a sense of divine things experienced 
brighter and clearer than ever before. God seems in- 
deed to have wonderfully connected praying and 
acting. If we pray to be enabled to speak the truth 



RESOLUTION TO LABOUR FOR SOULS. 



27 



to dying sinners, and do not, if we have any oppor- 
tunity, engage actively in doing something for them, 
the effect on our mind begins to lessen. It is saying 
1 I go/ and going not. Many Christians seem to be 
left to fall into a lethargic state from this cause." 

The dependence of spiritual health on efforts for 
the souls of others being with him a principle of action, 
he scarcely ever took even a walk for relaxation with- 
out distributing tracts, and asking the people to pray 
over them. He used to say he did not enjoy a walk 
without having done something in the course of it for 
the good of souls. 

Another breathing. 

" June 25. — Lord, assist me this night, if it be 
Thy will I should address some careless sinners. 
Lord my God, fill me with prayer, with heart-bleed- 
ings for sinners ! May we take heaven by violence 
for them. Time flies, and souls are flying to hell. 
I must pray more for a sense of what the loss of a 
single soul actually is. Who is sufficient for these 
things ? ;; 

Then follows a holy resolution : K Never to speak 
to any one without trying to say something directly, 
either for the spiritual advancement of my own soul 
or of theirs, if conscientiously I can find an oppor- 
tunity, remembering ' where there is a will there is 
a way.' " 



28 



HIS FIRST VISIT. 



He was now about to leave Springland, that he 
might enter on business in Manchester. With this 
in prospect, he says :— 

"July 11. — The Lord has,' in His abundant mercy, 
brought me to see this, the third month of my being 
in Him. My heart is hard as the nether millstone, 
else it would be continually sounding forth the praises 
of the love of the Lord Jesus. I would be ever medi- 
tating and speaking of such wondrous, incomprehen- 
sible love. Lord, give me but a clear sight of my 
Saviour, and then my heart must melt down. What 
urgent need I have to apply more at God s throne ; 
to keep nearer to Jesus as my only strength." 

" July 16 — The first person I ever visited with the 
end of profiting, oi being profited, was Mrs M., Quarry 
Mill. Almost four years ago my sister began to visit 
her, she being confined to bed by bodily debility. 
About the same time, one who had obtained peace of 
mind went to her and spoke to her. She did not 
wonder at my sister speaking so, because she was of 
superior station ; but when this servant girl so spoke 
it astonished her, and her conscience told her that no 
more than the truth was said. She now rejoices in 
her oi ly Saviour/' 

The same evening he writes — " I find I must watch 
that efforts for the salvation of souls do not turn away 
my mind from my own spiritual state. To-day I have 



GOES TO MANCHESTER. 



29 



been engaged, as I am on the eve of leaving home, in 
visiting the cottagers from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. 

" I am now about to go to England. O that the 
Lord would meet with me as He did with Jacob, and 
bless me, then would I go forth joyfully. God, my 
God, go forth with me, and I will fear none ILL O 
direct my path in everything. Make a bright shin- 
ing light to mark the road that leads me to the 
Lamb, so that I may not swerve to the right hand or 
to the left. Thou, O Lord, hast dealt very mercifully 
with me in giving me such a loug breathing season. 
I am but a weak lamb ; unless Thou bear me up, I 
must soon fall. May I every day wax stronger 
and stronger, ' looking unto Jesus / then I cannot 
fail. 

" While I am on my way to Manchester, I will 
have much in my power in speaking to former asso- 
ciates. Lord, enable me to make opportunities ! 
May I always have before mine eyes either to give or 
receive profit, with whomsoever I meet." 

On arriving at Manchester : — 

"Sunday Evening, July 28. — Have much cause 
of thankfulness to the Lord for His many kindnesses 
to me since coming here. For some days my heart 
felt cast down, as I have been doing nothing for that 
merciful God who has done so much for me. But 
since then He has been pleased to shew me that I 



so 



WORK AT MANCHESTER. 



have been impatient, and not relying enough on His 
ever faithful arm. I see that in some cases I must 
wait till I have been here longer before speaking to 
persons, and then efforts will be more effectual ; but 
neither, on the other hand, ought I to delay too 
long. But I have full cause to thank the Lord for 
the opportunities He gives me of engaging in His 
work. His having been pleased to put me under 
the charge of Mr G. Barbour, is a striking instance 
of His lovingkindness, for by this means I have 
been introduced into the Sabbath school, and thus 
again have opportunity of gaining admission into 
families to speak a word to them ; and in Mr B. I 
have a friend with whom I may advise, and who by 
his efforts and conversation shews that his face is 
Zionward." 

Immediately on being settled, he began to distri- 
bute tracts in the neighbourhood. Finding that this 
formed a good opening for further acquaintance and 
visitation, the same evening he commenced visiting 
the houses of his Sabbath scholars. ^ Amidst the 
routine of business his soul prospered ; for he acted 
on the rule of Psalm i. 3, and so was like a tree 
planted by the waters. 

" I find encouragement, at my daily occupations in 
the warehouse, from now and then taking out my 
Testament and reading over a few verses ; and that, 



A SOLEMN CASE. 



31 



with perhaps a short prayer, gives me new vigour, and 
stimulates me to greater diligence in my duties. A 
great part of the day is necessarily consumed with 
affairs connected with this world ; but in being thus 
engaged, I trust I am preparing a w r ay for a greater 
opportunity of glorifying Him by acquiring the means 
of doing more good." 

" I find the little time at dinner very refreshing, 
for then I get a little of the Bible or some other good 
book read." 

Here is a solemn case : — 

" I have passed perhaps the most solemn time this 
night that I have ever passed. I have been convers- 
ing with one to w 7 hom the Lord has not been pleased 
to manifest Himself. He said he knew w T ell the will- 
ingness of Jesus to save him, but that there was an 
iron sinew in his neck which prevented him coming 
to Him ; that he just felt that he was sin, and could 
not move to the Redeemer . I read and prayed with 
him about two hours ; still his heart was rebellious 
and would not bend. Again and again in the Lord's 
strength I besought him then to come with his heart 
as it was, and put it and all into Jesus' hands, and 
yet he said that he could not. It was indeed solemn 
to be beside one who knew so well all the Bible truths 
and the freeness of the Gospel offer, and yet whose 
heart was so hardened, that all these fell like dumb 



32 



PRAYER-MEETINGS. 



words upon his soul. Let me not rest till he has 
obtained perfect peace in the Lord/' 

His first prayer-meeting in Manchester : — 
"August 8. — Our first prayer-meeting was held 
to-night. Here may be the beginning of a great 
working among the dry bones. Let me remember 
that the blood of sinners lies at my door, if I warn 
them not night and day with tears, Acts xx. 31, 
Ezek xxxiii. 8. O Lord, give me a realising sense of 
their condition, then will I go forth proclaiming the 
glorious plan of salvation and the terrific danger of 
remaining in sin. O for more of Harlan Page's spirit. 
O when will prayer and effort, and effort and prayer, 
be the business of my life I" 

The time is now come when he sees his way opened 
to deal with those around him, in the same ware- 
house. 

" August 9. — I have been waiting till I should 
prove myself diligent in business before beginning 
to speak to those around me about their souls, but 
now I must, by the arm of the Lord supporting me, 
begin to do something at the warehouse. If it please 
Him, I may be the instrument of bringing many 
souls to Him from among them, but to find and use 
opportunities will require much circumspection and 
prayer. Having this evening to myself, I felt a disin- 
clination to spend it in the work of the Lord. How 



PRAISE. 



S3 



soon does the heart grow cold in this service. I 
have been writing to a friend about his soul, after 
much prayer on his behalf." 

Yearning over a soul, he says : — 

" 16th August. — To-day, while thinking of writing 

to , I felt my heart burn for poor sinners, and 

could not refrain from writing to him ; which I did, 
leaving all in the hands of a mightier than I, and 
earnestly beseeching the blessing/' 

Two days after this, he is sitting alone, musing on 
his Lord and His ways. The fire burns higher and 
higher. u What ! has that Lord of all come down 
from heaven, and shewn me somewhat of such glorious 
love in my Lord and Redeemer ! It is wonderful ! — 
reason stands speechless — poor finite man stands 
confounded, 'lost in wonder, love, and praise;' the 
Lord alone can fathom the bottomless depth of his 
love ; the Lord, and He alone, can know it. let 
me then praise Him ! Praise Him, praise Him, my 
soul ; praise God the Father, praise God the Saviour, 
praise God the Holy Ghost. Praise, praise, honour, 
and eternity of glories to the Almighty God, Triune 
J ehovah ! 

" My God and Father, give me more ardent love. 

Fill, fill me with more love to such a Saviour ! 

Everything within seems cold and dead, when the 

love of the Lord Jesus is made to shine. For, O 

c 



34 



SMELL AS LEBANON. 



how feeble must seem the little twinkling star of 
man's cold love and colder heart, when brought in 
comparison with that love which burns as an infinity 
of suns ! " 

There is an expression used by the Prophet Hosea 
(xiv. 6), when telling of pardoned, accepted, freely 
loved Israel : " His smell shall be as Lebanon/' 
Travellers report that they have found not the cedars 
only, but every shrub and plant that clothes the sides 
of that majestic mountain, in the spring season, 
breathing forth fragrance; all are aromatic. Is it 
not so with all the words and ways of the pardoned 
and accepted soul ? Was it not so with David San- 
deman? But besides this, the natives of Lebanon 
tell us that if you collect the sap of the tall pine, 
or of the goodly cedar, and drop it into the flame, 
the fragrance is delightful as incense. Is not this 
like what we find in God's believing ones? Their 
inner life, their thoughts, their deep-seated feelings, 
when circumstances develop them, have a fragrance 
of peculiar sweetness. It was so in the case of him 
whose motives and innermost frames of soul are here 
laid open. " The smell is as Lebanon." 

But effort is now called forth in another direc- 
tion. 

" Wednesday, 2\st — For the first time, spoke 
seriously and plainly to one of the warehousemen, 



CONFLICTS. 



35 



and gave him two tracts. I trust this will prove a 
beginning to doing more for the precious souls which 
I am among. Speaking to him has made me happy ; 
for day after day I have gone there, and done nothing 
for these souls. Pride, so far as I have seen, appears 
to be my besetting sin. It is surely in mercy that 
the Lord hides the desperate wickedness of my heart 
from my view, lest I should be overwhelmed in His 
holy presence/' 

He again testifies to the reflex influence on his 
own soul of his endeavours to bless others. 

"3lst August. — I find almost invariably that the 
more I am engaged in doing something for the good 
of others, the happier I am in my mind. 

" Going home I began to speak to a policeman, 
who was going the same way, with a view to the 
good of his soul." 

At times he was led to take note of the evils 
within his own soul, and occasionally the conflict 
there was sore. 

"1st September, Sunday. — Henry Martyn seems to 
have felt much the depravity of his heart. I fear I 
have scarce seen mine at all. I seem to have a sort 
of fear to examine into it, as if there were an un- 
fathomable abyss thinly veiled." 

" 2d September, Monday. — This morning, felt 
plainly the workings of* pride, pride which brought 



36 



MID-DAY HOUR OF DEVOTION. 



down Satan. Walked home with a young man. He 
made the long hours of business an excuse for not 
attending to eternal things. 

"3d September. — The wicked one has taken ad- 
vantage of some things which I have read and heard 
of the Socinians, to infuse at times doubts into my 
mind. The mere handling of their views seems to 
leave a stain. 

" 2 o'clock. — My reason is plainly convinced that the 
Lord J esus is God ; still there seems to be something 
of the Satanic spirit within. how awful is any 
feeling approaching to unbelief! How desolate it 
makes the heart, as if a stinging scorpion were lying 
there. 

"Night — I have sincere cause to praise the Lord 
that He has been mercifully pleased to deliver me 
from the power of the lion." 

He used the short time he had in his power at the 
dinner hour for snatching a look at the New Testa- 
ment and for brief prayer. This refreshment cheered 
him on in his common employment. „ After one of 
these short seasons, he finds himself again among his 
fellow-clerks in the warehouse, and thus writes: — 

" One of them spoke to me about predestination ; 
another, a Roman Catholic, joined us. I proposed 
that we should look for a little at Rom. ix. ; and it 
did seem strange, three of its examining God's word 



LABOUR FOR SOULS. 



87 



in such a place, in the midst of cloth, and noise, 
and bustle ; the sight made me lift up my heart to 
the Lord in praise and humble prayer, that it might 
not be ineffectual for our good. In the evening tried 
to speak to another fellow-clerk ; my heart was 
yearning for his soul's welfare ; for the time is 
short, everything is hastening to an end, and then — 
unending eternity/'' 

His zeal led his mind forth in all directions. 

<: Sth September, — Spoke to a Particular Baptist 
in the warehouse, who holds very strong views on 
predestination. It seems to me that he dwells on 
this to the exclusion, in some measure, of man's 
responsibility. Now, both are to be held ; if the 
former only be considered, how manifestly must it 
cool every effort for the salvation of souls. 

"Thursday, 12th September, oh a.m. — I have re- 
mained up to this early hour writing to , about 

our matter of controversy/' 

Thinking over some of his visits to Perth, he notes 
the particulars of a case thus : — " I never visited 
Mrs Y. till three weeks before leaving for Man- 
chester. It was remarkable that, through carnal and 
sinful reasons, I had been at home three weeks before 
I went ; and yet it pleased the Almighty to convince 
her soul, and then to bring her to Himself. She was 
almost wholly ignorant of Scripture, or at least of its 



38 



NEW FEELINGS. 



meaning ; for often during the course of the day she 
would come, Bible in hand, to ask of a neighbour 
what this or that passage meant. Since then, I 
believe, she holds on her way." This is dated Sep- 
tember 17. On September 19, another is mentioned 
who "at first was rather hardened by the loss 
of her children ; and then led by it to the true Com- 
forter. She had had hard thoughts of God." 

An entry, 25th September, takes special notice of 
the thought of the ministry having taken hold of his 
mind, and of the joy it gave him even to look for- 
ward to the possibility of entering on that path. But 
the following general observation about his feelings 
is interesting in itself: — "Find that whilst in my 
unconverted days impressions seemed a kind of bur- 
den, often falling off, now another hand preserves 
them/' 

Other thoughts occur about the same time, shew- 
ing the healthy tone and vigour of his spiritual being. 
We are giving merely samples. 

" 27th September.— I have lately been looking for- 
ward with some joy to that happy departure from 
this world and being with Christ, which is far better. 
O what a sovereign balm for every wound is that ; it 
often enlivens the solitariness of my lodging. 

" 1st October, Tuesday.— I have now been able to 
get three in the warehouse to learn a verse every 



KEFLEX INFLUENCE OF EFFORT. 



39 



raornincr Mv heart was enlivened by the two 
'hookers 3 corning to rae and repeating their verses ; 
one of them was a Roman Catholic. 

" 2c? October, Wednesday. — That arch enemy pride, 
I fear, wars against me" 

Joy and edification, as the result of dealing with 
souls, were his constant experience now. 

" 8th October, Tuesday. — Called upon Davis, and 
heard him praying while he did not know of it. He 
seemed to be truly pouring out his soul, and it was 
affectmo- to hear one so engaged who may be so near 
death. The Irish accent was very strong, which 
added simplicity to it. In prayer, after visiting him 
and another dying man, felt much solemnised. It 
is when the Lord is pleased thus to solemnise my 
heart, that prayer draws my soul into heaven, and I 
feel unwilling to desist. 

"Again and again I find it confirmed, that the more 
I am engaged in working for the Lord, the more do 
heavenly and becoming thoughts fill my heart. It 
is this which inclines me much to the ministry. I 
do at times sincerely wish that my heart, time, and 
all, were given wholly to the service of the Redeemer. 
It would be my joy and felicity to be spent wholly 
in working for Him ; and this. I trust, is not mere 
enthusiasm, but the calm and full purpose of my 
neart. I Lave been earnestly praying that if it be 



40 



LOOKING UNTO JESUS. 



His will the Lord would open a way for me. How 
my heart glows at the thought of my poor unworthy 
services being entirely devoted to Him who has 
w r ashed me, who has justified me, who has sanctified, 
and will sanctify me more and more/' 

Becoming more and more impressed with the per- 
suasion, that the Lord might open up to him that 
entrance into the ministry which he so longed for, 
he writes in his journal that he is fully aware of the 
many difficulties he must in that case encounter, but 
he has weighed the best manner of meeting every diffi- 
culty, and trial, and discouragement that maybe await- 
ing him. " Looking unto Jesus," says he, " would be 
my motto in the beginning — Looking unto Jesus, my 
motto in advancing — Looking unto Jesus ,my motto in 
storming the breach — Looking unto Jesus, my motto in 
falling, sword in hand, did He so decree. Lord, give me 
light ! " It is soon after this that he writes — " I trust 
God is becoming far more of a companion to me." 

We next find him blaming himself for speaking 
and acting as if he were already an established 
believer instead of a new-born babe. Then we find 
him on his way to the Lord's table, saying, " All I 
can expect in this world is pain and struggle, rising 
and falling, seeming to be nearly vanquished, and 
then, in the glorious strength of my Redeemer, con- 
quering all enemies. Whether as a merchant or as 



CHANGE OF HIS PROFESSION. 



41 



a minister, I may fully expect such trials as these. 
Let nothing therefore move me/' 

On 13th October occurs a breathing of delight at the 
idea of a soul saved by his instrumentality. " Have 

had the joyful news to-day, that is inquiring 

very seriously, and in a way that shews that the 
blessed Spirit is at work w T ithin. How unspeakably 
precious is the godly sorrow of one poor sinner, which 
gives the angels a hymn of praise/' Two days after 
this, he records at some length his views regarding 
the proposed change in his profession, prefacing it 
with the words, " May I consider it as if I were on 
my death-bed !" What weighed with him most 
powerfully was the consideration, that a merchant 
cannot so give himself up to live and die wholly 
for the Lord, as a minister of the Gospel may — 
although the merchant in a sphere of his own may 
largely glorify God. After this he writes : — ■ 

" Evening, 22d October. — I feel at present as stand- 
ing in the market-place, ready to be hired. May the 
Lord Jesus come forth from His vineyard, and although 
it may be said to be with me the eleventh hour, invite 
me, nay, draw me in, to be one of his labourers. 
Whether merchant or minister, let me remember the 
day is far spent, and that we are near the end of the 
journey. If he has chosen me for his minister, O 
for that grace and truth which come from above ; 



42 



HEARTY SERVICE. 



for that holy anointing for His own special work. 
Why w r ait the wheels of His chariot ? Yet I see that 
the lesson of waiting in prayer must be learnt. The 
Lord alone can direct the path of His servants. Now 
they must seemingly stand still ; again, they must 
press forward with the fullest vigour. At one time, 
in the eyes of the world, they may seem to be over 
cautious, and fearful of advancing ; at another, they 
may seem to be enthusiasts. 

"Z5th October. — With Christian friends I have 
sometimes a pure unalloyed and hallowed enjoyment, 
which I scarcely thought was given to creatures here 
on earth. Truly the world knows nothing of this 
communion. I never imagined such, till the Lord 
was pleased to renew my heart/' 

He is not abating in his pursuit of holiness, for we 
find him recording : — 

" 28th October, Monday. — In the morning tried to 
have solemn thoughts, as soon as I arose, by repeating 
and praying the 63d Psalm. Grieved to find that I do 
not awake with a greater sense of divine things upon 
my mind. I fear this shews there is little true sancti- 
fication of the thoughts and intents of the heart.' ' 

Once more : " I have much reason to thank the 
Lord for the persuasion he has given me in my own 
mind, with regard to the ministry. I pray that as 
soon as the way is properly clear, I may enter with 



EFFORT FOR OTHERS A TEST. 



43 



my whole soul into the work. Poor perishing souls, 
why will they not be warned ? if that vast word 
'Eternity were more in my heart, how wholly different 
would be my walk and conversation ! I fear I never 
realise what eternal death means/' 

<£ I think that the best criterion of the effect of 
private devotion, public ordinances, or religious con- 
verse, is, how does it dispose one for self-denying 
effort? Were this question put when the heart 
seemed softened with some view of holy things, it 
might often appear that natural feeling has mingled. 
This test must be a true one, for when should the 
believer's soul be so strong for duty, as when his 
Kedeemer sends forth the rays of His love?" 

Very characteristic are his words, when he resolves 
— " To act as if there were no other human being with 
me, as if I alone bore the standard ; and yet to watch 
for and hail any who seem to strive to bear the 
standard, and take him by the right hand! 3 For 
his was a genial nature, thriving in the atmosphere 
of brotherly love. 

Here is an important reiteration of a testimony : — 
" I never feel my soul so much trusting in the Lord 
my righteousness, as after trying to warn some poor 
one from the sleep of death, or to comfort some fol- 
lower of the Lamb. I have so often experienced this, 
that it seems strange I should ever forget it. There 



44 



NO WANT OF OPPORTUNITIES. 



is a heartfelt enjoyment of peace and a resting upon 
Him, which far surpasses any feeling I ever experi- 
enced while wandering from the blessed Shepherd of 
the flock. It is at such times as these that a strong 
proof of the Lord having indeed made me one of His 
is presented to my mind. For there is such a peace- 
ful quiet within, that none can feel it unless the Lord 
has sent it, especially if, on examination, there is no 
particular outward cause to produce it. In going to 
the warehouse, and passing through the crowded 
street, nothing was permitted to come between my 
soul and my God/' 

And here is an important statement of a fact : — 
" Find new opportunities every day at the warehouse 
of speaking a word in season ; the longer there, the 
more such seem to open. I will leave the profession 
of merchant, deeply convinced of the many oppor- 
tunities afforded him if he has the true wish of glori- 
fying the Lord. Yet is the ministry more honourable 
than this, and still more opportunities are found in it." 

But now the time came when his highest wish was 
to be gratified. On November 19th, he is taking 
farewell of the poor whom he used to visit. At last, 
he is ready to start. " O may He be my staff and 
my rod ! May this ever be before my eyes, and 
written upon my heart, God, WHOSE I am, AND WHOM 
I SERVE. I am now no longer my own ; the world 



LEAVING MANCHESTER. 



45 



must now be cast behind. May I be directed on the 
road to duty. Let this day be ever remarkable in 
my life." 

Just as he was thus leaving Manchester, he heard of 
one to whom he seemed to have been savingly blessed. 
It led him to write : — " Felt that important principle 
confirmed to-day, that the more I engage in duty, 
the more I am glad with a holy joy/' Need we won- 
der at this ? Surely not ; for thus it is that a man 
is kept from looking at self, and guided to a more 
constant gaze at Christ, to whom he points others. 
And we get a little into the secret of his steady cheer- 
fulness when we find him remarking : — " Have been 
considering the subject of assurance. I believe that 
the Christian who possesses it is in the best position 
for active effort to the glory of God : as he is thus free 
from his own problem to care for the souls of others. 
And surely it is most scriptural, for we find the 
Apostles ever rejoicing in the love of Christ, and ex- 
horting whole churches to do the same/' 

We now go with him to Edinburgh, where he 
arrived November 27. ; and three days after he is 
found as before, at his heavenly Father's business. 
For we read — 

" 30th November. — Attended a prayer meeting of 
the Students' Missionary Association. Have been 
much interested in the life of J. Brainerd Taylor. 



46 



J. B. TAYLOR — LIVELY FEELING. 



He was a merchant also till nineteen. He seems to 
have felt a distaste for business itself, which I can- 
not say was the case with me, nor do I know that 
there is any line of life I would not have been ready 
to pursue, had duty led to it. With him I pray that 
the Lord would make me a Christian eminent for 
holiness and devotedness. I would desire not to take 
any man as my model, but only the Lamb of God. 
May He grant me a great anointing for His most 
holy office/' 

Soon after he is found joining with a few others in 
a prayer meeting for revival in the congregation. 
Then he writes : — " I would humbly praise God for 
the change which, I trust, has been wrought in me. 
He has restored in some measure to my soul the light 
of His countenance. The Holy Scriptures have been 
sweet to my taste to-day. The Psalms especially 
seemed to beam with light. This morning while return- 
ing from visiting, Jesus seemed to draw near to me. 
I had just to lift up my heart, and He gave me peace 
in Him. I longed to go aside and pray, but had no 
time. Still I could not help stopping by the road- 
side, and felt the true joy arising from the feeling of 
lying passive in the Saviour's arms." 

Here is watchfulness. 

" 7th December. — Began to repeat the 42d Psalm 
as soon as I arose, and engaged in prayer. This I 



GLORIFYING GOD IN STUDY. 



47 



often find beneficial, by the mind being led into a 
serious frame as soon as I awake.' 
Here is self-examination. 

t€ Monday, 9th. — I cannot point so much to one 
glaring sin that should make me mourn, it is just the 
corruption of the whole inward man ; a constant 
tendency to estrange myself from the Lord, by neglect- 
ing to be ever striving to keep near Him/' 

Here he glorifies God in his studies. 

" 13th December. — It is very delightful when I am 
enabled to sit down to Cicero or to Greek, with my 
heart's purpose being to glorify God. It is oftentimes 
very refreshing to lift up my heart in prayer before 
taking the book in my hands, and commending my- 
self unto Him who careth for us. 

n 17th December. — Attending meeting of students 
of divinity engaged in Home Mission work. This is 
my first mixing with the students, and engaging more 
immediately for God's glory. The Lord has given 
me some love to souls ; but why so little yearning 
after the Lord Jesus ! Were he to put the question 
to me which he put to Peter, ' Lovest thou me f I 
fear it would be asked but once. 

" 8th January. — My time is at present very much 
engrossed by study. To-day, from half-past seven A.M. 
till ten at night, I was engaged in study, and yet the 
Lord shewed me that He is able to keep my heart in 



48 



SELF-EXAMINATION. 



peace with Him : for often during my studies, I was 
able to lift up my soul in calm resting upon Him. 
The quiet and sweetness I experience at times is 
what formerly, when dwelling afar from the Lord, I 
was an utter stranger to. It is not a boisterous joy, 
nor even elation, but a calm quiet, which seems to 
pervade every feeling of the soul. I think I can trace 
this to my being more in prayer while at college and 
in the various classes. Let this be an encouragement 
to me to strive to live in prayer ; and in order to this, 
let me ever remember not to begin the business of 
any class till I have prayed to the Lord to keep me, 
and to bless to me what I learn while there. 

" Attended Dr Candlish's class for the Confession 
of Faith. Subject : ' The Decrees of God and Election/ 
In the course of the day, I find myself speaking and 
acting too much as if I were an established follower 
of my Lord, instead of manifesting that humble, child- 
like deportment which ought to characterise the new- 
born babe. Passed some time with a soul who is still 
looking within, instead of without, to the cross of 
Immanuel. 

" My heart is apparently wholly devoid of that 
melting tenderness and fervent love to my crucified 
Redeemer which ought to fill me. O to be delivered 
from this body of death ! When will the Day Star, 
the Bright and Morning Star, arise upon my soul, 



MOTTOES. 



49 



and the love of the Saviour, without resistance, be 
shed abroad within me ? I long for such a time. 
that I could forget every one else, and every thing 
else in the world, and join the seraph band in singing 
to His praise, the bountiful Giver of all good ! Every 
estrangement is only the working of that great enemy 
sin, mortal sin. How black must my heart seem in the 
eye of the Lord, with whom I have to do. Lord 
J esus, come into my soul, and enable me to love Thee 
more and more." 

In crossing from Leith to Kirkcaldy, on his way to 
a few days' visit at Springland, he writes : — " Was 
obliged to rebuke three men for their disgraceful con- 
versation ; but it was done in a cowardly manner. 
Spoke at last to a gentleman inside the coach a few 
words as to the necessity of seeking to lay hold on the 
only true foundation, Christ Jesus. The cowardly feel- 
ing I experienced was very great, wholly unworthy of 
one who professes to have relinquished the world, and 
therefore should regard neither its laugh nor frown. I 
am far from being a bold soldier in my Master's cause." 

And here is a prayer at this time, and the solution 
of a difficulty : — " I prayed to be kept in remem- 
brance of my three mottoes : — 
' Looking unto Jesus/ 
' My geace is sufficient for thee/ 
9 Whose I am, and whom I serve.' 

D 



50 



NEW YEAR'S FEELINGS. 



I am sometimes at a loss as to the priority of various 
duties, which should hold the first place, and which 
should be postponed. At present these three mani- 
fest duties lie before me : 1st, Eeligion in my own 
soul ; 2d, Preparation in all its forms for the minis- 
try ; 3d, The conversion of near relations and neigh- 
bours." 

It is thus he enters upon another year : — 

"New Year's Day, 1st January 1845, Spring- 
land. — The year has been begun in prayer. How 
blessed would it be if it were a whole year of prayers. 
for grace from my God to pray without ceasing. 
In a letter from my sister lately, she said, ' Do not 
come to terms with your corruptions. Give no 
quarter to sin, and take none, till you set your feet 
within the New Jerusalem/ 

" O to learn more from Jesus of His own glorious 
Person ! Shew me, Lord, more of Thy wondrous love. 
Fill the void which I feel to be in my soul. 

" I sometimes think whether or not it may be 
God's will that I should enter the ministry on earth. 
Many are cut off in their prime. J. Brainerd Taylor 
was cut down when about to enter on the work of 
preaching the Gospel, and he, as I, left business. 
May I ever remember this solemn consideration " 

And thus he girds his loins : — 

" 22d February. — Eose at 4J a.m. for reading the 



STUDY WITH DEVOTION. 



51 



word and prayer. Could not get near the Lord in 
prayer, and was made to walk the rest of the day in 
somewhat of the spirit of humility, yet felt that it 
had strengthened me and that it gave me a feeling 
of stability. Found to-day how ill my proud heart 
could bear reproof/' 

His studies go on, and yet his soul is not really 
suffering loss : — " To-day felt much calm joy of heart 
in leaving my Greek for a little and kneeling down 
to pray. How sweet the refreshment at such a sea- 
son to the whole inward man. It spreads a peaceful 
serenity over the heart which nothing from an earthly 
source can equal. Perhaps the nearest approach to 
it is Christian friendship, but this I find mixed with 
many alloys. Communing with God is alone pure 
without mixture ; it is a foretaste of the eternal joy/' 

On March 3. he gained the prize for recitation at 
the Humanity Class in the College, taught by Pro- 
fessor Pillans. 

But his delight in meditating on the word of God 
increased. 

"16th March. — The majesty of God's word is truly 
great ; so like the language of the Creator of the 
universe. Have been reading lately some of Solo- 
mon's Song, and find it very suitable to my own 
case." 

" Wednesday, March 19. — Have experienced more 



52 



GOSPEL OF JOHN. 



pleasure in reading the Scriptures to-day than I ever 
remember before. Have begun to learn John's Gospel 
by heart. How placid and kind the manner in which 
Jesus speaks to the first apostles, 'What seek ye?' 
He said unto them, ' Come and see when they, trem- 
bling, no doubt, were following Him, for they seem to 
have been afraid to come up with Him. And then, 
no doubt, walking between them, He took them to His 
own house — perhaps some small room surrounded by 
carpenters' tools. And then the kind welcome given 
to Nathaniel is very touching. How beautifully does 
the character of Jesus shine forth in these little narra- 
tives, and yet, little as they are, giving manifold proof 
of His being a Divine Person. Simon Peter's cha- 
racter he knew at once. Nathaniel was known to be 
an Israelite in whom was no guile. When he thought 
no eye had seen him, Jesus had been present and 
with him under the fig-tree." 

Somewhere about this time, a letter that he wrote 
a school companion was made a blessing ; or rather, a 
letter which he had written to that friend from Man- 
chester now began to bear fruit in his soul. The young 
man said, that from that date, whenever he thought of 
religion, his mind somehow reverted to Mr Sandeman. 
For a time he quieted his conscience by saying, "Some 
shall be taken, and others left. What then could he 
do ?" But he was led on to cry more earnestly to the 



A LETTER BLESSED. 



53 



Lord. One Sabbath, after hearing a sermon on faith, 
he went home and prayed, " Lord, increase my faith l" 
and his eyes were opened. He wrote to Mr Sande- 
man telling him the happy story. It may be men- 
tioned here, that at a future date he visited Mr S., 
who has this instinctive record concerning him : — 
" H. G. visited me. The first day or two he was all 
joy together. This, perhaps, led him to think lightly 
of temptation. He went to a dancing-party. God 
humbled him, and he seems to be going on his way 
rejoicing, yet humble/' Next year, that same person 
was found spending hours in prayer, in reading the 
Bible, and visiting the poor. In recording it in his 
journal, Mr S. writes : — " Heard of a letter being 
blessed. Let me be encouraged by this answer to 
prayer. The good has come, and every atom of it, 
through Jesus. The grace flowed all the way from 
heaven, and entered a weak and broken vessel, just 
before it did the work God had given it to do." 

We can join him in the glow of feeling that dictates 
what follows : — 

" Mh April. — Three days more, and then the 7th of 
April. Brightest day that ever dawned to me, or 
that ever can dawn, till I enter into the everlasting 

joy!" 

" 6th April, Sabbath. — It was about this very hour 
last year that the Lord first gave me a true hope^ 



54 



PROSPECTS FOR ETERNITY. 



which has never quite left me since. How blessed 
my prospect now : Throughout the ages of eternity my 
soul to be wrapt in joys, of which Jesus shall be the 
one great theme ! a holy rejoicing, which can know 
no ebbings, no interruptions, but shall be ever flow- 
ing on, ever finding new cause for a louder burst of 
praise when my Saviour's loveliness is yet more dis- 
played ! in that land to meet the patriarchs and pro- 
phets, to join with the Psalmist King in chaunting 
to the praise of God, with all the martyrs to sing 
aloud, and the general assembly of the redeemed V 

Amid such breathings, prayers, efforts, studies, 
passed quietly away the first year of his new life. 



CHAPTER III. 

ags of Stoog for % SKitisfrg. 



" Whose I am, and whom I serve." 

Acts xxyit. 23. 



The city of Venice is built on clusters of islets, divided 
from each other by narrow and shallow channels of 
sea, up which the tide runs. These islets were once 
merely stretches of sand covered with sea-weed. 
.When the city was to be built, the builders did not 
seek to fill up these dividing channels, but conformed 
their plan to the nature of the site, driving in stakes 
and piles, and erecting houses, temples, palaces, and 
towers, alone: the margin. It is somewhat thus that 
the great Builder acts when He comes to rear up the 
new temple in a once wasted, desolate soul. He 
does not reduce souls to one level platform, and build 
a monotonous range of similar structures. He con- 
forms the features of the new building to the previous 
outstanding characteristics of the man. 

The Holy Spirit, by the pen of Paul, has used an 
illustration in Romans xi. 17, taken from the grafting 
of the branch of a wild olive tree into the stock on 



58 



INDIVIDUALITY. 



which grew the branches of the Good Olive. He is 
speaking of believing Gentiles coming into a share of 
Israel's spiritual blessings. Now, those well acquainted 
with gardening processes tell us, that, as the result of 
such an operation, the fruit of the wild olive tree is 
sensibly improved in size, if not in flavour, by the new 
sap, but that it still retains its specific peculiarity. The 
Gentiles, grafted by faith on the same stock as Abra- 
ham, do, nevertheless, retain their Gentile peculiarities 
of character, while they draw new life from the good 
stock of the good olive tree. So with souls born again. 
The grafted scion, the new man in Christ, in bearing 
fruit retains its specific characteristics ; union to Christ 
does not efface the man's peculiar intellectual qualities, 
but breathes new life and imparts new vigour into 
them. It is thus we account for the fact on the scale of 
a nation, that, when the life of God has come to that na- 
tion, it arises from intellectual torpor, and vigorously 
cultivates every form of civilisation, retaining all the 
while its individuality. On the same principle we see 
a soul after conversion rousing himself to the service of 
his Redeemer, and calling into more vigorous exercise 
every power of his being — and his peculiar gifts not 
least. 

At a later period, he of whom we write was led to 
remark, that the Lord seems, even in grace, to pre- 
serve individuality. " I have had occasion to observe 



CHARACTERISTICS IN CHILDHOOD. 



59 



how God continues the same grace to different be- 
lievers, grace peculiarly their own, so that in meeting 
them you know where you will find them/' When 
he himself was brought out of darkness into marvel- 
lous light, conversion did not make him intellectually 
say what he was not before, but it led him to seek 
the development of all his powers with intense energy. 
He did not imitate any other man or Christian, he 
sought to be what the Master apparently meant him 
to become. It was remarked of him in infancy, that 
while others were quicker and more active, he was one 
who took pains to be sure that he was right before he 
acted. When sent with a message up to the nursery, 
his more nimble companions often rushed down two 
or three times over with the wrong article ; but when 
David was the messenger, he was sure to come back 
with the commission carefully executed. This feature 
of character, combined with perseverance, was more 
and more developed as he grew up in years. It led 
him, in general study, to get at the root of everything, 
if possible ; it inclined him, in theology, to examine 
the principles of the divine administration, and to 
observe the analogy of faith, instead of hastily admit- 
ting a conclusion which one less anxious to be sure that 
he was right might have been content to draw. 
Indeed, his companions often thought him slow, as 
well as cautious, in his reasoning. 



60 



COURSE OF STUDY. 



Manly fearlessness in maintaining what he believed 
co be right, was not less remarkable in him than this 
indomitable perseverance. And then his rare consist- 
ency and evident singlemindedness were felt by his 
fellow-students to impart peculiar weight to his con- 
clusions, We might add also his gentlemanly bearing 
and kindly address ; indeed, even little children soon 
perceived and appreciated his unselfish kindliness of 
manner and disposition. 

We do not try to follow him throughout his eight 
years of preparatory study for the ministry ; it may 
be better to give glimpses of his student life. He 
most conscientiously studied the usual branches, and 
attended the classes that other students attend who 
are preparing for the ministry in the Free Church of 
Scotland. His attention was given to Latin and Greek, 
to Natural Philosophy and the higher Mathematics,* 
besides other pursuits of a less severe kind. He 
studied Logic under Sir William Hamilton, and Moral 
Philosophy under Professor M'Dougall. Then fol- 
lowed, during four successive years, Theology in all 
its branches, under Dr Bannerman, . and Dr J ames 
Buchanan, and Principal Cunningham, while he pur- 
sued at the same time the study of Hebrew, and made 
progress in the cognate dialects also, under Dr John 

* He retained such a liking to this branch of study, that when 
in China, he wrote home for a copy of Newton's Principia, 



STUDY IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS. 



61 



Duncan. In several of these classes he gained marked 
distinction ; in every one of them, he made it a matter 
of conscience to be diligent and persevering. Xor was 
there any perceptible abatement of spiritual feeling. 
Many have found the glowing ardour of their souls 
damped by philosophical and even by theological pur- 
suits ; he felt the danger, and endured a conflict, but 
did not fall within it. For whether it were Locke's 
Philosophy or Calvin's Institutes, M'Intosh's Disserta- 
tions or Edwards on the Will, Hume's argument 
against Miracles or Owen's Treatises, Demosthenes 01 
Milton, he made it a rule first to pray over the book, 
and then to endeavour to use it for his Master. " To 
study all day in the presence of Jesus," was his rule. 
In his note-book, he has penned in large letters, 
<• Eternity : Eternity* " Then he writes: — "Let me 
act more as if I were now in the next world looking back 
to see how I should have acted for the glory of Jesus. 
As D. Brain erd says, to live ox the verge of 
Eternity ! Would that I could continually dwell 
on its sides, in studying and following out every avo- 
cation ! " 

His motto, " Pray without ceasing," occurs from 
time to time every year of his course ; and as it 
seemed an impossible attainment to study very keenly 
and continue as spiritually-minded as before, he laid 
it down as a rule for testing his soul — " One atom of 



62 



SPIRITUALITY AKD STUD1. 



spirituality of mind, lost by too great attention to 
study, can never be made up for by any amount of 
acquirement/' The question in such a case might 
be raised, Is not the acquirement itself, if a thing of 
duty, a really spiritual gain, although the feeling of 
spirituality be at the time weakened ? Certainly he 
was stating a mighty truth when he wrote, " If the 
soul is doing all for the glory of God, then every 
particle of knowledge is turned into the gold of the 
sanctuary ; while, as soon as the soul loses this single 
aim of God's glory, all that may be acquired is but 
wood, hay, and stubble/' But never once does he 
hint at the idea of such acquirements being useless. 
On the contrary, he writes (April 1 846) : — 

" The student for the ministry is often inclined to 
lay aside his book of science, &c, and take up the 
word of God and pray ; while the heavenly Master 
knows that such learning, kept in entire subjection 
to His own word, will tend to make the servant more 
of a polished shaft, by accustoming the mind to be 
exercised ; and thus, by the effectual working of the 
Holy Spirit, will enable him to apply with all the 
more vigour and effect to the mighty work of preach- 
ing the Gospel." 

" When I go to Edinburgh, I think that I ought 
to begin to read the Bible through, as my acquaint- 
ance with it is very limited indeed. If my doctrine 



EXPECTATIONS AS TO STUDY. 



63 



is not to be mine, but His that sent me, surely His 
revealed will must be my constant study ; and let 
me endeavour to bring my faculties to bear upon it 
with all the force I can command, for surely God's 
word is far more deserving of it than mathematics. 

" The winter classes will take up much of my time 
and attention, so that I almost fear to enter them ; I 
know how deadening is their effect. The glory of 
Jesus, and that alone, should be my ruling and guiding 
principle. So let me remember my motto — ' Whose 
I am, and ivhom I serve.' Let this be printed over 
every page, and seen in every action. 

" I do not expect to be particularly distinguished, 
my talents being of no very high order. With truth, 
I may say with Moses, ' I am not eloquent, neither 
heretofore nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy 
servant, but I am of slow speech and of a slow 
tongue/ This last part is just as if it were written 
for my encouragement. Let me, keeping this always 
before me, take good heed that I do not err as Moses 
did, in tempting the Lord under a false show of hu- 
mility. Let me, however, bear in mind God's promise 
to him — 6 And I will be with thy mouth/ And where 
do we find Moses at a loss for words ? The first five 
books of God's holy word are from his pen. He did 
not fail in finding words to declare that Jesus was to 
come — ' of whom Moses and the prophets did write/ 



64 



ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. 



And what did the man of words (Aaron) do ? Did 
he not confirm the children of Israel in their miserable 
idolatry?" 

"Edinburgh, 3d November 184*5. — I am now 
again about to commence my studies. I feel the 
dangers ; for, if I am to profit at all by them, it must 
be through a regular intense application. Lord, 
grant me thy sustaining grace. Let the one motto 
be ever written up before me, ' Do all to the glory of 
God.' In studying mathematics, let this be my ruling 
desire, that my mind may be disciplined for the use 
of Jesus ; in studying logic, the same ; and in study- 
ing Greek. And may I have the strength of resolu- 
tion to bear in mind to engage in prayer before com- 
mencing the business of each hour. The apostolic 
precept will assist me, by the mercy of God — ahia- 
tfgotevxeah (' Pray without ceasing'). 

" I would likewise solemnly call to mind my dedi- 
cation in July last, in which I, for my part, did 
engage to dedicate myself more entirely to God's 
service, to seek to serve Him with more singleness of 
heart, feeling this to be my most reasonable service. 
The vows of the holy God are upon me/' 

At the commencement of the session he has this 
memorandum : — " Let me seek to remember in prayer 
each of the professors whose classes I attend." 

His seeking the spiritual welfare of his fellow- 



INTEREST IN FELLOW-STUDENTS. 65 



students was a special means of preserving the spirit- 
uality of his soul. 

" After the prayer-meeting in the College, continued 
with W. S. calling upon God ; and after prayer, be- 
sought him to lay the things of eternity more to 
heart. Found that he had been putting something 
of his own. instead of Christ's righteousness. Read 
part of Eom. x. on our knees before God/' 

This is not the only time ; it is a mere sample of 
its kind. So also is the following : — 

" In the evening had a long conversation with a 
literary student. Confessed that he had not found 
peace in believing ; that when he came into contact 
with Christians, there was a something which told 
him that all was not right within. Feared death. 
Sought to tell of Christ Jesus, of His mercy, and 
love, and grace, of which he said he had heard and 
knew well. Sought to encourage Him to wait upon 
God till light should arise. 

" Feel that I ought to be more faithful to my 
fellow-students in general." 

Sometimes the struggle was severe, yet seldom 
was it in vain. 

" Resumed regular study, which, as usual, I found 
to have a very steadying effect on all the powers of 
the soul. 

" Find it a hard matter to combine the freedom of 

E 



66 THE LORD WITH HIM IN STUDY. 



the Gospel with that constant fighting against cor- 
ruption, which is the Christian's calling/' 

" At Professor Balfour's morning Botany class ; 
interesting as usual ; propagation of plants and graft- 
ing." 

" Have been studying and reading from early this 
morning till late, and yet Christ Jesus and his sal- 
vation have been made precious/' 

"Faith" (said Henry Martyn) "is to overcome, 
not to run away from, the world/' He quotes this 
saying, and in the spirit of it, we find him resolving — 
" I must seek this summer to give myself thoroughly 
to study mechanics, algebra, and trigonometry, Latin, 
and Greek." He read the literature of the day, and 
our old classics ; but in doing so, he invariably prayed 
over them, that they might help his future ministry. 
We scarcely wonder, when we know his high motives 
and aim, that he was able often to record such hours as 
the following, — " The Lord was with me in my studies, 
and to study has been joyful to my soul to-day. I 
intend to keep up my French and ^German." " In 
study to-day, was enabled to prosecute it without * 
doing so in an atheistical manner- — not without sense 
of the presence of God." " The word of God dwelt in 
my soul to-day. It was not difficult to study and 
attend the classes. Even the Rhetoric class, and the 
reading of Shakespeare, these seemed elevated to a 



MOTIVES — THINKING. 



67 



higher region, by rny being able to engage in it, to 
the glory of God. Study, even the most close and 
effective, did not estrange me from God,." (Edin- 
burgh, January 2. 1851.) " Working in study with 
a view to man's applause, or in comparison with 
others, is a galling bondage." Once more, — a Exam- 
ination day in the Natural Philosophy. The glory of 
thy master ! whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever 
ye do. The professor, and each of us students, must 
stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, where an 
examination for eternity will be held/' 

He liked to think for himself, and to think out a 
subject. One of his remarks is to this effect : — 

"An essential of true thinking is conclusiveness. 
Excogitating even is not thinking. Practically, a 
thought is of no value, except conclusive. It may 
be of value towards a thought, but it is of no intrinsic 
worth. A finished conclusive thought in the hand of 
a powerful aggressive mind is of great efficacy. Con- 
clusive thought is truth." {January 7. 1849.) 

Far from undervaluing the cultivation of the facul- 
ties to the full, he sought to give good heed even to the 
lesser matters that might one day bear on the effi- 
ciency of his ministrations. " Whitefield," he notes, 
" was not ashamed to attend to manner in preaching. 
He rebuked the neglect of the study of oratory at 
Oxford." Again, — !i All mannerism is hurtful for the 



68 APPRECIATION OF LITERATURE. 

holy ministry. Tones unnaturally drawn out, false 
raising and lowering of the voice/' &c. 

Let us give a specimen of his appreciation of the 
higher literature. (July 1850.) 

" I observe that there is a certain healthiness in 
the atmosphere of truly great minds, which invigor- 
ates and strengthens. There is even a moral nobility 
about such, which is not found among men of a lower 
order. Milton's Paradise Lost I find also most grate- 
ful. It breathes an ennobling spirit. 

"What I admire most in these men and their pro- 
ductions, is that air and reality of nobility which all 
true greatness bears with it as a necessary ingredient. 
They walk on a higher level, their step is more manly 
too than other men's, and they cannot stoop to mean- 
ness. 

"Stern unalterableness of purpose is a sublime 
feature of such characters ; they call up the idea of 
the eagle, whose eye, as he soars, catches the minutest 
object, and marks each, but never swoops till a worthy 
quarry is discerned, whose fate is then fixed." 

Having been perusing one of Schiller's works, he 
writes : — " Find that the ideas of truly great minds 
move one much in the same way as the grand in 
nature. The works of nature do not lead one directly 
away from God, but rather tend to bring one into the 
posture of a silent worshipper. Works of art, if very 



GREAT WRITERS. 



69 



magnificent, may have the same tendency. But ordi- 
narily the truth of God must be called to mind, in 
order to put those in their proper place." "En- 
grossed, and more than delighted with Chalmers. 
Among other things, he measures out so palpably for 
one the littleness of his own mind and contractedness 
of his own heart. This influence on the mind amounts 
almost to fascination. Was led to give God thanks 
for creating such a spirit among the sons of men, and 
for bending that spirit to seek His glory as his 
highest aim." On Demosthenes : " Two or three hours 
of Demosthenes. Struck with the directness of his 
style of address. No swerving aside for mere declama- 
tion, no mere flowers or ornament, every word and 
sentence bears directly and potently on the point 
which he wishes to carry. His lofty and fervid tone 
has an elevating effect. " At another time : " In the 
evening, twenty pages of Demosthenes. Healthful 
as usual." Meeting at the house of his brother-in- 
law, Mr G. F. Barbour, a living writer, Isaac Taylor : 
" Struck with his kindness and the intellectual sti- 
mulus of his conversation/' Once more : " Reading 
Calvin's Institutes. Mind almost sensibly expanded 
in reading — the ordinary effect of reading that noble 
author !" 

He rose early in the morning, and his care was (like 
M'Cheyne), "Never, if possible, to meet the creature 



70 



EARLY AND LATE WITH GOD. 



till he had met the Creator." Two hours were spent 
in prayer and reading the Word ; and if he was inter- 
rupted, or if he failed to get time for these hours, he 
used to feel " the loss of his morning's manna" 
all throughout the day. While travelling on the con- 
tinent in ]850, " Sought the face of the Lord before 
starting" or something to this effect, is a common 
entry in his journal. He added to this occasionally, 
" Two hours of the Hebrew Bible/' If it was one of 
his special days of fasting and prayer, he sometimes 
rose at five, or earlier, and would note afterwards, 
" The day seemed very short." These hours brought 
in " spiritual affluence, and made him happy as a 
prince" while busy at his studies the rest of the day. 
And so he would retire to rest at night in serene 
repose on the everlasting arm. One evening, in 
Nov. 1851, it is noted in his journal, " Went to rest 
singing 

€l Friends the fondest should not keep me, 
Jesus loves me more than they. 
I would be where J esus waits me, 
I would be where Jesus is — 4 
All too long have we been parted, 
Let my spirit speed to His I" 

lines which he uttered when sinking back into the 
Everlasting Arms on his deathbed. Truly his every 
evening's repose was a real readiness for the eternal 
rest. 



THE WORD OF GOD. 



71 



Not less were the other hours cairn and holy. 
*' Came home with my heart somewhat heavenly. 
After dinner sung Psalm cxliii." (Jan. 1851 .) He de- 
lighted in praise. Awaking one morning (Vjth April 
1851) at five, he hears the birds at their early song, 
and thinking of it as their morning hymn, asks him- 
self, " Is not this a challenge V He used often to 
sing at ordinary times, as a song of praise, the thirty- 
fifth paraphrase : — 

11 'Twas on that night when doomed to know," &c. 
And to svreeten his praise, he was at great pains to 
learn the use of the accordion or concertina. And 
then. The Word was ever at hand. Jan. 1846. — 
(c Already it seems a friend with whom I would not 
part, no not for worlds." Jan. 1847. — One of his 
new year's resolutions is, "A good proportion of 
the best part of my time to be devoted to secret 
prayer and the other is, "A very close and con- 
stant reading, and as deep and prayerful a study and 
meditation as he can give to the Holy Scriptures." 
To him the Word was really u light and lamp and 
(says a friend) his life was an illustration of the 
words, " When thou goest, it shall lead thee ; when 
thou sleepest, it shall keep thee ; and when thou 
awakest. it shall talk with thee" (Prov. vi. 22). Arriv- 
ing from a journey, he was to be found taking 
"food for his sour' ere ever he cared for bodily 



72 



THE WOKD OF GOD. 



refreshment ; and at midnight, if he happened to be 
sleepless, he would arise, strike a light, and fill his 
soul with thoughts of God from God's own word, and 
then lie down again. One of his petitions, adopted 
from a friend,* was, " Lord, cast me into the mould 
of Thy word. 3 ' He comes from his class to his lodg- 
ing, and spends half-an-hour at the word. " Some 
ingots from the Scripture mine." We find him not- 
ing, u that OEcolampadius delighted in the Old Tes- 
tament Scriptures, which/' says he, " is at present 
my pasture-ground. There is a peculiar joy in find- 
ing Christ there." One Sabbath evening, " spent the 
whole of it in reading in the Hebrew, that grave and 
beloved language." Averse would at times be suffi- 
cient. " c Be filled with the Spirit) has shone into my 
heart like a sunbeam, and has abode with me some 
days." (1 846.) When at Bonskied (October 1 852), 
riding up Glen Tilt, his spirit was filled by the 
grandeur of the scene ; and as a fit companion to 
it, the Word was in his hands : " Can read nothing 
but the word; it is my morning, noon, and night 
portion." 

It was his custom, with those fellow-students who 
enjoyed his most familiar intercourse, occasionally to 

* I believe this friend was the late Mr Wodrow, who so deeply- 
loved Israel, and who was led to take special interest in Israel, by 
simply following the teachings of the word of God. 



MEDITATION ON CHRIST. 



73 



stop the current of conversation or study by propos- 
ing some such question as — " Let us now tell each 
other what we may have observed in any of our 
number which would not have been seen in the 
Master." 

If anything more was needed to open up to us a 
view of his youthful soul, able while in the very- 
throng and bustle of classes and studies to keep in 
close fellowship with the Son of God, it may be 
found in the subjoined extract from a meditation, 
March 1847. Having referred to the bitterness he 
had felt when for any time not sensible of the 
presence and love of God, he turns to meditate on 
Christ forsaken : — 

" May it not be said that Jehovah never yet stirred 
up all His wrath against sin, except in that awful 
hour when Jesus cried, ( Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ! ' 
For when the angels fell, Jehovah's anger was kin- 
dled, and they were cast into hell ; but whilst they 
have progressively to experience that wrath through 
eternity, whose full expiation they yet never reach, 
Jesus, on the other hand, during His life, in the 
garden, and on the accursed cross, must have borne 
the awfully compressed, yet complete, essence of 
God's infinite wrath against His people's sin. Truly 
the furnace of divine wrath must have been at that 
hour seven times heated. 



74 



HIS LOVE TO CHRIST. 



" J esus Christ — the Lord J esus Christ ! O how 
glorious his person, how holy is He ! What would 
my life be without Jesus? O I believe from the 
love which God my Father has put into my heart to 
Jesus, my dear, dearest Saviour and Kedeemer, that 
were He to withhold altogether my Beloved from my 
sight, I should pine and die. Oh I am sometimes 
sick of very love. My Beloved appears to me at 
times, when His hand is laid on me, when His left 
hand is under my head, and His everlasting arms are 
around me, white and ruddy- — the chiefest among 
ten thousand. ' His mouth is most sweet, yea, He is 
altogether lovely/ ' My beloved is mine, and I am his. 
He feedeth among the lilies.' ' The love of Christ, 
it passeth knowlege/ Jesus, my Lord, has the in- 
most recess of my heart without a rival. No friend 
can possess that chamber. Oh no ! I would not have 
another beloved in that chamber ; no, not for worlds. 
How easily could I exist without all my other friends, 
if I had only Christ. How soon should I die away 
if J esus were torn from me. I might die for several 
of my friends ; nay, I feel as if, were many of my 
brethren in Jesus to be in imminent danger, I could 
sacrifice mv own life to save theirs ; but Oh, Christ 
always has my life. I would this day put it entirely 
in His hand. 'To me' — O thou poor sinner — thou 
hard-hearted one — thou obstinate one — thou carnal, 



VISITS FOE RECREATION. 



75 



unclean one — but who art clothed in the blood- 
bought garment of J esus's Righteousness — ' to me ' 
—even to me, a vile, chiefest sinner — 'to live is 
Christ, and to die gain/ ^vvs^o/iai ds 1% ruv dvo, rfo 
eirsQufifav e^cav Big rb avaXvtfai, xal <5vv Xg/<rr£) zJvaf KoXkti 
yag paXkov Ttgsfotov," (Phil. i. 23). 

It is not often that a student's life has many 
incidents ; but in the present case we find some of 
special interest. His excursions, in the weeks of 
recreation, were generally to spots that possessed 
attractions, and when this was not the case, the style 
of his visits often threw interest into them. 

Of course, his native place, Perth, was one of these 
spots ; and there we find interesting notices of his 
visits to the neighbourhood ;— 

" Walked to Meihven. The Lord enabled me to 
speak to many poor souls as I met them on the road." 
" Called on Mr Milne. His prayer for me and my 
future success in the ministry deeply affected me/' 
" Walked with J. Maxton" [a friend in Christ, now in 
glory] " in the woods. Had the word and prayer with 
him." 

One day in harvest, finding by the roadside a 
woman cutting grass, he plucked a head of wheat, 
and told her how a corn of wheat must die before 
that beautiful head, could spring up ; and so Christ 
must needs die ere we could be saved. She seemed 



76 



COLLAGE — SPRINGLAND . 



astonished, and he went on his way, praying that the 
Lord might send His word to her heart. 

At another time : — "A sweet walk in the afternoon 
among my heavenly Father's works. They were 
eloquent in His praise. The clouds seemed as His 
chariots. The clear blue Grampians never seemed 
so lovely/' " Yesterday went to Collace, and met Mr 
A. and J. Bonar, and Mr Cumming. Since then, 
have been impressed with the great importance of 
the minister of Jesus having much anxiety for souls. 
O to be like Jesus, weeping over souls. A. B. spoke 
of this." 

3d October 1851. — At Bonskied, near Pitlochrie. 
One could almost wish that the days of boyhood, so 
full of life and confiding hope, were back again ; but 
then was I not living without God, without Christ, 
and without hope, in the world ?" 

Vdth October, Springland. — "Here am I in the 
very room where my adorable Lord manifested the 
fulness of His 4ove, mercy, beauty, and glory, to my 
soul, which He rescued out of the horrible pit and 
miry clay. O how sweet was His love to my soul. 
O how did He fill me all the day, in this sweet room 
and everywhere, with His overcoming love ! How 
was it continually with me, a kind of sweet amaze- 
ment of love ! How did I tremble whether it could 
be all true. ( I sat under His shadow with great 



BONSKIED. 



77 



delight/ Since then, I trust, my love, if quieter, is 
not less true, and it is more established. 

In July 1852, he and his friend Mr Oswald Allan 
were coming up the magnificent Pass of Killiecrankie, 
when his eye caught the glare of flame. They hurried 
on, and reached Bonskied just in time to aid in 
extinguishing a fire. " We saw the power of God in 
wind, and flood, and fire, during that visit/' says he ; 
for there came on a pouring rain and a mighty blast 
that uprooted trees by hundreds. He stood on the 
roof, near the burning rafters of the offices, and by 
his coolness in giving orders, was a chief instrument 
in preventing the spread of the flames. 

Once more, at that same spot : — " The Lord drew 
very near. Had delight in thinking that every line 
of the hills was fashioned by His hands, and that He 
himself admired and rejoiced in their beauty and 
power ; also that He always dwelt among them as 
the Omnipotent God. My soul made its boast in 
Him ; it seemed for the time so natural to glory only 
in the Lord/' 

But now we return with him to Edinburgh. There 
this zeal often burst forth on Sabbath evenings, as 
he passed up or down the High Street, and saw the 
open door of the tavern or pie-shop. He frequently 
walked in, with his Bible in his hand, spoke to 
the Sabbath-breakers, and over the counter calmly 



78 



SOLDIER IN QUEEN'S PARK. 



and kindly entreated them to listen to the call of 
Christ. 

One of the friends of his youth tells an anecdote of 
those days illustrative of a distinguishing feature of 
his character, namely, how readily he could pass 
from the apparently most boisterous physical exer- 
tion, to the most solemn and calm dealing with souls. 
Delighting as he did in vigorous exercise and gym- 
nastic feats, he one day, in a walk with two com- 
panions, joined for a few minutes in the amusement of 
leaping over the stile at one corner of the old Queen's 
Park. While his companions failed, he cleared the 
stile so easily and gracefully, as to draw forth the 
admiration of a dragoon who stood by. When about 
to walk on, Mr S. turned to this soldier, got him into 
conversation, and spoke of the perils and the honours 
of a life like his. Then suddenly, drawing himself to 
his full height, he exclaimed with deep feeling, 
" There's something far better yet ! It is, to be a 
soldier of Jesus Christ. Are you that P The dra- 
goon looked with wonder on the man of muscle and 
sinew who could thus speak to his soul, and shook 
hands at parting evidently deeply interested. The nar- 
rator adds, " Scenes like these were continually occur- 
ring ; but this power of gracefully turning every little 
event into a means of usefulness could exist only in 
one whose natural atmosphere was the love of God, 



OCCASIONAL LABOURS. 



79 



and in whose soul there was an uninterrupted gravi- 
tation towards his divine Saviour/' The same friend 
remarked, that it might be said in like manner of his 
intellectual being, " There was but a step between the 
eagerness of metaphysical argument and the fervency 
of prayer/' during the days of his closest study. 

He had a district which he regularly and anxiously 
visited, and from which he had some fruit ; but 
beyond this sphere we find his labours extending. 
At one time it is to the Magdalene Asylum — "Felt 
as if I could have pleaded for hours with them to 
come to J esus." At another time it is to the Prison — 
" Trust that my Saviour opened my mouth in some 
measure/' At another, he visits Bricletvell, where he 
felt " calm liberty ; " " assuredly He granted me His 
power and presence in my own soul/' Then he gets 
an opportunity in the Castle of attending the prayer- 
meeting of some faithful soldiers. Next, he is at a 
bookshop, " purchasing Castell's Oriental Lexicon, 
with a view to the study of the Syriac New Testa- 
ment and speaking to the man from whom he 
buys it, and to others in the shop, on eternal things. 
And then we find him at Salisbury Crags, ei calling 
on the Lord there/' One morning he goes out with 
his Professor to measure with a barometer the height 
of Arthurs Seat; another morning, in his walk 
there, he finds "an unexpectedly sweet moment of 



80 



COESTORPHINE HILL. 



prayer." He climbs the Pentland Rills, and some 
time after he is on the shore at Leith. " Why have I 
not a walk with God as close as M'Cheyne's ?" is a' 
question he is revolving in his mind/' and he medi- 
tates till his heart burns. Then we meet him at 
Ratho y conducting a prayer-meeting, at the close of 
which " one remained to speak with him and 
another day, he walks by the seashore to Cramond, 
breathing upwards desires and longings. He re- 
turns from a prayer-meeting in Dalkeith, feeling 
" as it were an infinite complacency in the Divine 
Being." 

One other stroll : — " "Walked to Corstorphine Hill 
in the evening, for meditation. Got there, what I 
looked not for, some discovery of my utter loath- 
someness in the sight of God. The unbelief of my 
nature, the hideous spectacle of ungodliness, of in- 
herent enmity against the holiness of the Lord of 
Sabaoth, was almost too much for me to bear ; but 
found great relief in remembering that Jesus had 
taken me from hell itself, and in just looking up, 
as if I had never looked before, to the glorious 
Immanuel. Could have willingly remained in this 
Bethel longer, but the evening was fast closing, 
and the air was cold. Thought of the time when 
Jesus would come and take my soul to the mansions 
of glory prepared for the poor sinners redeemed from 



FRIENDS. 



81 



sin and hell ; when the old man will be for ever 
divorced, and Jesus will come and lead me to the 
marriage supper." 

The scene is varied by the visit of a beloved 
mother, which draws forth the prayer, " May I be 
the means of quickening the divine life in her soul, 
and may she also be the means of leading me nearer 
to Jesus/ 5 Or yet more, a letter comes, bringing 
good news from a far country. It is the morning of 
April 24. 1846 :— 

u 2Mh April — Blessed news to-day, which has 
made heaven glad. My dear brother A. in India 
seems to have been brought to J esus. When I heard 
of it I could only weep tears of joy and thankful- 
ness. The Lord seems to have brought him in with- 
out much instrumentality, so that he is the more a 
great monument of free grace. His letter breathes a 
humble and teachable spirit. blessed Father, pre- 
serve him from all temptation which might prove too 
strong for his present faith ; but how glorious to 
Thine own name that now he can be left to Thy gra- 
cious care, not as a rebel against Thy law, but as a 
son ! Lord, give him a deeper view of sin than I 
have had : that he may be a great light, for then also 
will he have a stronger and a deeper love to the 
Lord Jesus. Glory, glory to the Lord Jehovah, for 
He hath triumphed gloriously/'' 



82 



INCIDENTS. 



In 1851, he is surprised by a pleasant visit from a 
college friend, Mr A. Anderson, who once was carried 
away with the unsatisfying plausibilities of the theo- 
logy taught by Maurice and Kingsley, but who is now 
rejoicing in the bloodshedding as all his hope.* At 
another time, he passes a pleasant evening with Rajah- 
gopaul from Madras, a convert and a preacher of the 
cross ; hears Dr Duff preach ; returns to work in his 
district, when study permits. In that district a soul 
tells him that, " it has been creeping upon her that 
she is not safe yet and soon after, Bunyan's " Jeru- 
salem Sinner Saved" convinces her that her sins are 
not too great to keep her away from Christ, who, she 
finds, " is now coming and going in her heart ; and 
Oh ! the conversation He has in our hearts is sweet/' 

In May 1847, we find him still keeping in view 
the winning of souls. 

u May 2.- — In seeking to win souls to Christ, or 
to lead the Lord's chosen ones to live more entirely 
unto Him, or lastly, in stirring up thine own soul, 
endeavour always to take the very highest ground, 
and yet in the very humblest spirit. The higher, O my 
soul — the more spiritual thine argument — it is easier 
throu gh grace for thee to take a lower place in the decla- 
ration of it. The being 'all things to all men' does not, 

* See that valuable and able memorial of him, "Life in the 
Spirit." by Kev. Norman L. Walker, Dysart. 



VISIT TO ROTHESAY. 



83 



perhaps, so much depend on choosing parts or phases 
of the doctrine which will not offend the mind of 
another man, but rather in one's own spirit being so 
humbled under a sense of the weight and glory of 
his argument for Christ, that he gives it in such a way 
as makes another see that in his own view he is only 
on a level, or even far below himself ; and thus is he 
brought down, and through grace will acknowledge 
the power of the argument for Christ. Ee not, there- 
fore, over-careful of finding analogies from the things 
of this earth, from philosophy, &c. ; but take the 
highest ground, use the most potent engine/' 

In 1847 and 1849, he visited John Bannerman, 
Esq., where he often met with the Rev. Peter M'Bryde 
at Rothesay, and heard from him much of God's 
work, and learned more of God's word. " I came 
away as one filled with new wine." He does not 
come to enjoy the scenery or the climate only, but 
as he sits down after arriving, he reminds his soul : 

" Now, consider well what thou canst do for Christ. 
Thou hast been saved from an otherwise inevitable 
doom. The devil and his angels no doubt thought, 
1 Ah ! we have this soul ;' but one greater than he said, 
1 Redeem from going down to the pit, for I have found 
a ransom/ Yes, a marvel-working God did see thee 
when a child given over to foolishness. How often 
did He say of thee, f Foolishness is bound up in the 



84 



SELF-INQUIRY. 



heart of the child/ He saw thy stubborn disposition, 
the malignity of thy natural mind, the jealousy of 
thy heart even in trifles. If He have given thee per- 
severance, then hast thou abused this to persevere in 
sin. And even since thy conversion, how often hast 
thou sinned against Him. The Lord thy Redeemer 
has sometimes brought thee into His banqueting 
house, where His banner over thee was love ; but 
again hast thou returned to folly. Forgiven much, 
how much shouldst thou love ! what a towering love 
shouldst thou have !" 

From time to time he pondered solemnly his call- 
ing to the ministry. We may give another example 
of his self-inquiry, in addition to those that have al- 
ready been presented. 

" October 12. 1848. — With the near prospect of 
entering the Hall, I would once more put the ques- 
tion, Have I a call to the holy ministry ? 

" I cannot doubt that the Lord has savingly called 
me to Himself. Amidst many sins, and doubtless 
amidst much undiscovered iniquity, the love of the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost has been, I cannot 
doubt, the solace of my heart for some years, as 
well as the hope of being one day with the Lord 
altogether, to see Him as He is, and to be made al- 
together like Him. For I feel that my home is to 
be with Christ in heaven. When I remember the 



KEFLECTIONS. 



85 



foundation of His righteousness, my heart often leaps 
within me. Living to the glory of God was in my 
unconverted days a mere name, but I should be deny- 
ing the grace of the Lord, did I not say that, since 
my conversion, it has been one of the chief ruling 
desires of my heart. Love to souls has been many 
times as the breath of my spiritual life, and a spring- 
tide of love to His people has often risen in my soul. 

" If truly called to the ministry, may I be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost, and may there be kindled in 
me a burning flame fed by the precious oil of His 
communicated grace, that I may live to and preach 
Christ Jesus and Him crucified. My only resource in 
His holy overpowering presence is to hear Him say, 
* Without Me ye can do nothing/" 

"January 2. 1849. — May I never this year meet 
the creature till I have met the Creator. Fear that 
Jesus has been a stranger of late to my soul. Not 
that nearness to my Father which I believe He is 
pleased to give His children : little of the bright 
transforming power of God in my soul. Where His 
electing love is realised, it seems as if one golden vial 
of it were more than the creature could sustain." 

"May 1849. — Read Baxter's Saint's Rest. It was 
as a pool dug in Baca, on the road to Zion hill. Was 
enabled with a peculiar sweetness to feel that to Zion 
I was bound ; that thither my soul was hastening on, 



86 



VISIT TO ARRAN. 



though still feeling carnality, selfishness, and pride 
oppressing me. 

" Meditating on Eph. i. 4, &c, and found it sweet 
and soul-filling. Baxter seemed nothing to the pre- 
cious word of life, and its heavenly manna Christ 
J esus, the yea and amen of all the promises. 

" What will the inheritance be, when its earnest is 
the Holy Ghost. 

"I think that this evening I got a pomegranate 
from the garden of the New Jerusalem. What must 
the full harvest of the fruits of glory be ? 

" 29th May.— -The work of the Holy Ghost seems 
wonderful ; His condescending love. 

" Sd June. — God's wisdom and glory in His works 
have been very precious to my soul of late : His 
firmament, sun, moon, and sky ; full rich verdure of 
the trees, every leaf. 

" 20th June. — Trials are apt to cause doubts as to 
the love and willingness of God to bless. Great want 
of conviction of sin, and consequently slight appre- 
hensions of the surpassing glory of Imnianuel." 

At Arran, in 1850, he wanders up Glen Eosa, and 
passing over the high ridge has a magnificent view of 
Glen Sannox. 61 It filled my soul with its grandeur — 
could think of nothing but the greatness of my God 
and of His power. My mind and soul altogether 
exulted in the scene. While gazing into it, a noble 



GOATFELL — ISLAY. 87 



eagle sailed down and alighted on a distant rock/' 
On the other hand, the remembrance of the ascent 
of Goatfell leads to a train of thought : — " Climb- 
ing Goatfell suggests a fine analogy in the mental 
world. Leaving Erodick Bay, as we ascend from 
point to point, the view widens, till at the top the 
whole island, the surrounding sea, with the dis- 
tant mountains and coasts, fall within one compre- 
hensive view : just so should the mind seek to rise 
from particulars to a more general and comprehen- 
sive knowledge. Again, from general principles we 
return to particulars, and now see them in the relation 
of part to the whole, and in the light of general truth ; 
just as in descending the lofty hill we carry with us the 
wide view from the summit, and now recognise, in 
their relation to it, the details, even the minutest, of 
the landscape, the formation of a rock in the valley, 
or the place of a tiny shell/'' 

In one of these journeys (his friend Mr Tait testifies), 
so incessant was Mr Sandeman's efforts for souls, that 
he believes he must have spoken to not less than Jive 
hunched persons in the course of their pedestrian ex- 
cursion. And then, if opportunity occurred, he was as 
direct and ready in addressing the rich as the poor. 

In the autumn of 1848 and 1852, he was to be 
found at I slay, visiting his friend Mrs Miller. Then 
he passes on to the wild scenery of Skye. Return- 



88 



KELSO— WOOTTON PARK. 



ing, at another time, from Kelso, in May 1852, 
whither he had gone to enjoy a Communion season, 
he speaks of being " refreshed with the ministers 
and with the Lord — Christ, and Christ only, as the 
great Object of faith, and the hope of His appearing, 
were the main things among them ; and an endeavour 
to appropriate the promises more than is often done/' 
I remember that season, and how , often he wiled me 
away (for I happened to be there) to some secluded 
spot in the woods, by the old Eoxburgh Castle, that 
we might have prayer together, as well as converse. 

When at the English lakes, where he finds out 
his friend Mr Oswald Allen, he is still the same in 
spirit. "Two good evenings in the glen amid the 
works of the Lord. Some walking with Jesus there. 

my soul, that thou wouldst ever be in companion- 
ship with Him !" 

He visits his friend Mrs Bannerman, at Wootton 
Park, in Derbyshire, and there he writes : — 

" Wootton Park — Long-continued thunder-storm 
this afternoon. Was at first startled with the dread 
of the great God ; and for a time, as it were, I looked 
this way and that for refuge, and finding none other, 

1 fled to the clefts of the Great Rock — even to God in 
Christ. Had almost instantaneous relief and peace. 
After this the storm passed away through the valley, 
and I had the finest view of continuous flashes of 



TORQUAY — FRANCE. 



89 



lightning that I remember witnessing, with magni- 
ficent bursts of thunder following each/' 

And when at Torquay, a few months before being 
licensed to preach the gospel in the Free Church 
of Scotland, every day he and his friends, Mr Tait 
and Mr Coventry, had their hours of prayer together, 
and their blessed walks. He would bid farewell to 
a visitor, and then could record — " Not left alone, 
for I trust the Master joined me. He drew near in 
that word, 'If it were not so, I would have told you' 
(John xiv. 2). There is a sweet mystery, as well as 
a great majesty, in this friendship.'" 

We should have mentioned, also, the opportunity 
he twice enjoyed of a short visit to France and 
Switzerland. In Paris, standing before a picture of 
Christ on the Cross, in the Louvre, his wonted spirit 
appears in the words that drop from his pen — " La 
realite des souffrances de Jesus Christ m'apparut en 
regardant un tableau de Murillo/' "Rode out io 
Port Royal. In a cafe} had a few precious moments 
of meditation on a few verses/' Not even in jour- 
neying, however rapid, could he forget that he had 
one object to live for. 

2d November. At Cannes.—" Being left alone in 
the inn, had a providential opportunity for fasting 
and prayer, being about the time of my monthly 
fast, and in view of my return homewards. My soul 



90 



SWITZERLAND. 



got some intelligent breathings after God, and views 
of sin. Felt how absolutely I stood in need of the 
Holy Ghost ; without grace, man is an utter and 
eternal ruin. Had one strong pulse, so to speak, of 
prayer for the ministry. 

" The idea of the ministry makes me tremble at 
times ; it appears such an awful work. The possi- 
bility of a sterile ministry seems worse than death ; 
and to be really used of God seems almost as terrible. 
Interesting prayer-meeting with the French Chris- 
tians. They were like one family, and reminded one 
forcibly of the primitive Church. The kindness and 
love, the fervency, liberty, and Christian affection of 
these believers, in prayer, were very remarkable. 
Immanuel restore it manifold into their bosoms ! 
All the day felt unworthy of their fellowship/' 

At Geneva he had intercourse with both Dr Malan 
and Gaussen, gaining from both ; and when sur- 
veying Mont Blanc and the Glaciers, says — " Sought 
to visit my Lord's works in His name, and to seek 
his face/' So again : — 

"20th October 1859, Sabbath. At Avignon. — 
Continued in prayer until half-past four this morn- 
ing. A blessed Sabbath to my soul ; never almost 
had such continuous reading and meditation on the 
word of God, and on the glory of the saints above 
when they shall see God face to face. Surely mine 



EAST LOTHIAN. 



91 



eyes have seen something of the Great King this day. 
The meditation of Him was exceeding precious to my 
sin-wearied soul. Let me thus learn once more, how 
God is ready to bless time set apart for special seeking 
of His face, and considering our ways before Him/' 

"21st October, Aries. — Eose at five, and thus had 
more time to wait on the Lord. Truly He has kept 
my soul by His great power this day." 

Bat it is time to turn from other places to one where 

the Master peculiarly honoured him. He used to visit 

the Rev. AY, H. Hewitson,* whose name is well known 

in the churches, at the village of Dirleton in East 

Lothian. It lies not far from the sea, where the Bass 

Rock lifts its massy cliffs to the sky, furnishing endless 

retreat to the solan geese, and in other days supplying 

a dreary prison for our Covenanting fathers. Standing 

on the Bass Bock, with his beloved brother Frederick, 

he " felt that a divine glory shines through all the 

Lord's works, and yet He hath magnified His word 

above all His name/' At that time Mr Hewitson 

was the minister of the Free Church at Dirleton, a 

man of God of whom he writes — " That beloved 

minister of Jesus, my soul is much drawn to him. 

He struck a cord of sympathy in my nature last 

night, which may vibrate for many days. Natu- 

* The same who, in 1845 and 1846, was so blessed in Madeira. 
See his Memoir. 



92 



MR HEWITSON. 



rally he is the most ethereal and spirit-like man 
that I have met. Singular lucidity of thinking, great 
love of generalization, and a most metaphysical cast 
of thought. He defines and shades away thoughts 
with much skill, and has great command of classical 
expression. He spoke of desiring to ' have thoughts 
capacious as the ocean, yet containing millions of 
drops of truth/ The imagery of his mind is all of 
the same refined and poetic kind, and stands out as 
the branches of a leafless tree seen against the sky 
in winter. When he speaks, one is riveted ; intel- 
lect and imagination are on the stretch ; and I have 
sometimes felt with him that thrill which thoughts 
of a certain depth produce in kindred souls. He lives 
altogether in a strangely elevated atmosphere. 

" As a spiritual man his company is very refresh- 
ing. He realizes much the privileges of the believer. 
Love is his favourite theme. " Rejoice evermore" is 
one of his mottoes. He realizes much the Kingship 
of Christ. He is full of love to Christ, love to souls, 
and zeal carrying him out to abundant labours. 

Not far from Dirleton is the town of Haddington. 
A friend of his own, Mr A. M'Callum, now Free 
Church Missionary in India, had been invited, in the 
beginning of J une 1 848, to address a prayer-meeting 
there. This friend was led to decline the duty him- 
self, and at the same time to insist upon this duty 



WLSTFIELD AWAKENIXG. 



93 



being undertaken by Mr Sandeman. After consider- 
able hesitation and prayer, be went, having " ob- 
tained, I trust, help from ray Master, Phil. iii. 7-9." 
Circumstances led him to remain a few days. His 
lodging was West field Farm, which henceforth became 
very memorable to him. 

One soul was that week awakened, and the case 
was altogether remarkable. This woman, a servant 
on the farm, had been three years there, and never 
shewn the smallest concern about her soul. On the 
12th June she was at evening worship, indifferent and 
dead as a stone. Next morning she entered the room 
as stupidly uninterested as before; but as Mr Sande 
man was giving out the Psalm for praise at worship, 
and was reading (Psalm lxxiii. 22) — 

" So rude was I and ignorant, 
And in thy sight a beast" 

the last words struck her like an arrow. She sobbed 
and wept during prayer, and continued all day in a 
very tender state of conscience. Mr S., in the course 
of the day — " having (says he) first sought the face 
of my glorious God and Saviour, whose ways are in 
the sea " — spoke to her of the danger of an uncon- 
verted state, and of the Saviour on the Cross ; but 
she could think only of her heart. She said she used 
to think herself just like others, but now "she was as 
a beast before God/ 3 He prayed; and on asking 



94 



WESTF1ELD AWAKENING. 



her to pray, she tried it, but got no farther than 
" Lord, be merciful to me a sinner ! " He read with 
her Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26 ; and asked her to read, which 
she did, sobbing at almost every word, especially at 
" the filthiness," and " the new heart will I give 
you, and will take away the stony heart/' The 
arrow of the King of kings seemed to be sinking in 
deeper and deeper as he read ; and in the course of 
the day, coming in to serve at table, when the bless- 
ing was asked, she was again overcome. The Shep- 
herd soon found this lost sheep. 

He soon heard of another wounded one in Had- 
dington, of whom he remarks, that he found her 
" deeply concerned, laying all her sins to her own 
charge/' The day after this (the 15th), one visiting 
at the farm was wounded. Mr S. had found near- 
ness to the Lord in prayer, and had just come out of 
his room to the dining-room, when his eye fell on this 
visitor. " Immediately (says he) my soul was full ; 
I could not for worlds have helped the most full love 
to her soul/' In asking blessing at the table, his 
soul was melted, the tears fell fast from his eyes, and 
he felt oppressed with excess of feeling. He rose 
and went alone to ask a word from his Master ; and, 
on returning, spoke out of the fulness of his heart, 
not able to restrain his tears. He felt persuaded 
that God had a purpose of grace towards her, since 



WESTFIELD AWAKENING. 



95 



He gave him such weepings of faith in her behalf. 
He read J ohn xx. ; and in praying afterwards could 
find only this petition, " Lord, remember our dead ! " 
This soul was awakened on the spot, feeling for the 
first time that she was a sinner, though before this she 
had taught a Sabbath class. Deep sadness weighed 
her down. The sight was one that gave him "an 
oppressive joy." Two days afterwards she found the 
Saviour. "Her heart goes after Jesus, and she is 
already begun to be concerned for the souls of others/' 
A young man was driving him in the phaeton one 
day. He spoke seriously to the young man regarding 
his soul ; upon which the lad threw the reins at him, 
saying, " You may drive yourself/' and tried to jump 
out. Mr S. quietly took the reins, and said not a 
word ; but, on arriving, himself put up the vehicle. 
In a few days that same young man was among the 
awakened, and brought to Christ. 

At this time he felt several souls specially laid on 
his spirit, for whom he was led to " travail in birth 
till Christ was formed in them/' And then also (says 
he), " my soul was led continually to be lifting up 
these lambs before the Great Shepherd." Sometimes 
he felt well nigh sunk under the oppressive burden 
of souls now laid upon him. During the service in 
church on the following Sabbath, while Mr Hewitson 
was officiating, he was obliged to sit down during 



96 



WESTFIELD AWAKENING. 



prayer, his heart burning with desires that the Lord 
would carry on His work, till the passage, " Be still, 
and know that I am God/' gave some relief. In 
the same moment he had a vivid view of his per- 
sonal sinfulness, and his only hope was, " the blood 
of J esus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin/' 
These souls above mentioned, and others also, were 
given him at that time. One felt that she had been 
" worse than a profligate, and the sight of sin made 
her shudder." On the 20th he mentions another 
awakened and brought to Christ, without very deep 
convictions of sin, while he was presenting "the 
simple offer of Christ, free and unfettered/' He kept 
a fast on the 22d, seeking grace to be humble, and 
asking more blessing, seeing that " the more vessels 
we bring to be filled, the more we get," (2 Kings 
iv. 6). On 3d July, he tells the hopeful case of a 
young man. This young man soon after told him 
how, walking on his way rejoicing, he opened his 
New Testament at the words, " Put on the whole 
armour of God," and felt it a word in season. Mr 
S. adds — " Gave him the life of Harlan Page, being 
affectionately desirous of his soul/' The Communion 
Sabbath followed. 66 Immanuel manifested Himself, 
so that I had sometimes almost cried, 'Turn away 
thine eyes ;' the eyes of love overcame my soul alto- 
gether. He also took me round some of the sins of 



EXERCISES OF HIS SOUL. 



97 



my youth, and gave me a clearer sight of my sinful- 
ness than I ever had. He especially manifested his 
love in the depths of the Cross and Garden." Having 
gone out into the fields, he continued from about 
eleven till three in prayer, and could have continued 
longer (says he), " if my body had not become weak 
and in the evening gave himself up to Jesus for 
time and for eternity, laying hold of that word, " The 
zeal of thine house has eaten me up" 

u Eemember, my soul, that Satan is always 
awake/' if What a wonderful mixture of trouble and 
consolation there is in times of real dealing on the 
part of the Father with His children. They are ever 
ending and ever beginning. The extremity of the one 
seems to involve the commencement of the other/' 
M My soul should come to Jesus to-day, even as a 
beggar who has been stript of his rags and bag of 
crusts, and comes naked and hungry to Him who has 
all things ready for those who will only come and 
rest in His love and righteousness/' " that I had 
ten thousand hearts, that I might love more \" "He 
has given me some tokens of his love, even some souls, 
as a chain of gold about my neck/' " We will make 
thee borders of gold, with studs of silver," (Song i. 11). 
" The gospel is not only tf Glory to God in the high- 
est,' but also c on earth peace and good-will towards 

men.' " " Past sin is bitter ; unsanctified hours, days, 

G 



98 PAINSTAKING INTEREST IN SOULS. 



and, alas, whole years \ " These are a sample of his 
soul's exercises in this time of blessing. 

When separated from them, pursuing his studies 
and labouring elsewhere, still these his first-fruits 
were much on his spirit. He wrote to some of them. 
One letter is addressed to a young ploughman among 
them who could not read common writing ; to him 
he writes carefully in large letters, printing them 
with his pen. We give a specimen of it, as shewing 
true painstaking in seeking souls. . 

He reminds one : "The Lord God knows the bitter- 
ness of grief. Did not the father hear the first sighs 
of the prodigal son, even though wrung from him amid 
the swine's husks ?' He reminds another : " Even in 
the meeting of the saints we must ever meet by the 
Pillar of Cloud and Fire, and not by any light of our 
own kindling/' To two who were specially interested 
in the work, he writes a letter containing words of 
counsel for all those to whom God had blessed him : — 

" My beloved Friends and Sisters in Christ — 
I received your welcome letters before leaving Edin- 
burgh, and they refreshed me in the Lord. But you 
will not rest satisfied in any thing to which by divine 
grace you may have attained. Oh press on to the 
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in 
Christ. And you, my own beloved ones whom Christ 
gave me, Oh follow on in all things to know the 



(See, p. 98.) 

^on cannot he safe till vou find 
Jesus Christ, and can call himjonr 

Saviour . Now, can you say this yet ? 
On ' my u*?ar triemi clonof j^ass fcj 

f tiis (|nestion Are j ou a chili of God 

ojruot? On if you fear flat you are 
not Youliave not one moment to lose ; 

God may at a ity time cut you off, ami. 

On .'wJiere would jour sou/ he {or 

all Efmulj f 

Make haste for jour life, and flee to 
Jesus / Crj for Bis Ttolj ySjnrit / tnat 
He may Soften jour Jleart and enalle 
you to Relieve ontae Lord Jesus . 
Reniemoer flat unless you trust in 

f^Krist alone for your salvation- 



LETTERS. 



99 



Lord. Maintain through the grace that is in Christ 
a walk and conversation becoming the gospel. Plead 
for being made " Holiness unto the Lord/' for the 
Holy Spirit to dwell richly in you, crucifying the old 
man to the world and the world to you. Forget not 
your unworthy brother and fellow-pilgrim/' 

Again : " My joy was great in hearing of Mrs J/s 
welfare in the Lord, and of the kindness of the Great 
Shepherd in supporting her soul through the wilder- 
ness. Beseech of them all from me to make sure work ; 
to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, 
taking heaven as it were by a holy violence/' And 
once more : " I trust that, from that trial which you 
have now made of the ways of our God, from that 
part of the Zionward road through the wilderness 
which, through the abundant grace of God, you have 
trodden, you have found it is a blessed pilgrimage- 
journey. Though the trials be more than you expected, 
and more trying to faith, and the conflict against 
sin and Satan more real and hard than you may have 
looked for, still I am persuaded the language of your 
souls is like that of the queen of Sheba, after behold- 
ing something of Solomon's wisdom and glory, 6 How- 
beit I believed not the words until I came and mine 
eyes had seen it, and behold the half was not told 
me/ Is the love of God in Christ less wonderful than 

you had been led to think ? or is it not greater ? Is 
Lof'C. 



100 



REMEMBRANCE OF WESTFIELX). 



the love of J esus less wonderful ? Do you not rather 
see new beauties and new glories and wonders in it, 
the farther you are led in the way ?" " I saw the 
Queen to-day, and much that reminded me of the 
coming of the King of kings. How all eyes were 
directed to an earthly sovereign ; how much more will 
they be to Immanuel ! Then our reflection will be, O 
that I had lived more entirely for my Lord ! O that 
I had told dying sinners more of His love ? That 
great day comes apace. Let us, by the grace of our 
glorious High Priest, read, pray, meditate, watch, and 
warn, as we shall then desire that we had done/" 

These souls he never forgot even when in China. 
Sometimes he wrote to them ; often he prayed for 
them. It was not to be wondered at that in some of 
them he was disappointed. Once on revisiting the 
place he writes, " Returning by the Tyne, at my 
former Bethel, found it good to wait upon my God f 
and at another time, finding cause both of joy and 
sorrow, he kept a fast that he might mourn over 
those at Westfield who had fallen, and give thanks 
for those who had continued stedfast. He remembered 
the parable of the sower. 

Strengthened in soul by such scenes, he went on, 
believing that this awakening was only a foretaste of 
more abundant blessing of a like kind which his 
Master would deal out to him in after days. 



CHAPTER IV. 

€\t $imtx aitir t\t §^mx. 



" Have I been a wilderness to Israel ? a land of darkness ?" 

Jeb. ii. SI, 



In the year 1852, during a season of vacation, he 
had sailed from Islay to Skye, wishing to explore a little 
of the scenery of that singular island. Riding up a 
glen on his way to Loch Cormish, he speaks of being 
much overawed in spirit by the Lord's works. " In- 
deed, my spirit almost shrank from entering in 
among them, they were so wild and dark; but in 
the end they rather ministered to me/' Next day, 
on his way back to Sligachan, he was overtaken by 
a storm of wind, rain, and scouring mist that filled 
the glen, so that it was not without great difficulty that 
he found the ford over the swollen stream ; and then 
it was amid drifting showers that swept in columns 
along the mountain side, and listening with awe to 
the roar of the sea and the rush of the howling wind 
through the glen, he reached his destination. Even 
in the midst of this wild scene, his heart found a song 
of praise. Eut it contrasted with another day's 



104 



STORM AND SUNSHINE. 



scenery, when he came to the side of a calm, full 
stream, which flowed from between magnificent rocks 
into the lake. It was sunshine, glorious sunshine, and 
he bathed in the stream : " And as I did so, prayed 
for a washing in the fountain opened for sin." 

Not unlike this contrast were his experiences in 
the spiritual world in the great matters of sin and 
salvation. Yery instructive it is to trace the Holy 
Spirit's dealing with Him during the whole eight 
years of his student life, as it comes out, first, in his 
wholesome looking inward, that he may know sin ; 
and next, in his healthful looking outward at Christ, 
combined with never-ceasing prayerfulness — all in 
keeping with that trait in his character which a friend 
who knew him well expressed by saying, "Never 
yet have I met any one who seemed so anxious 
that a believer should grow in grace!' He delighted 
to own and adore the sovereignty of God ; and not 
less did he unceasingly and invariably give glory to 
the Holy Ghost, on whose direct working in the souls 
of men he placed all his expectation of true conver- 
sion and real sanctification. It was, therefore, with 
his eye on the Father's sovereignty and on the Holy 
Spirit's grace, that he wrote such records of experi- 
ence and doctrine as those that follow. 

I. Here he is looking inward, detecting and watch- 
ing sin. " Le tus realise that when a man ceases to 



UNBELIEF DEEP-ROOTED. 



105 



have a persuasion of sin, he practically writes a lie 
across every page of God's book. He says that hell 
is a delusion ; he declares that the coming of the Son 
of God was a mere mockery. to tremble before 
God !" " O unbelief ! unbelief ! how indigenous it 
is to the natural heart. How it takes root in every 
corner of it. How it springs up after the storms and 
winds of affliction and trial, as well as after the sun- 
shine of a Saviour's love has been made to fall upon 
it. It is something like the herb which starts from 
the turf taken from the mountains of Scotland, as 
soon as it is turned up. It needs no sowing, and 
grows without rain, or sunshine, or care of any kind. 
The temperature may be high or low, the soil light or 
heavy ; still again the hateful weed finds root. O 
for the simple child-like 'looking unto Jesus.' How 
it invigorates the soul, and presents a strong buckler 
against the darts of the tempter, or the more insidious 
attacks of unbelief. When will this be graved and 
grained into me so that I shall not be able to forget 
it. Did I see more of His matchless love, then would 
I naturally look more to Him."" 

" Surely I am more troubled than any man ! Surely 
I am more the victim of the deliberate assaults of 
spiritual enemies than others. It seems as if the 
calm way in which temptations come upon me were 
peculiarly my own. Others are suddenly tempted, 



106 



TEMPTATION — DEPRAVITY. 



and it would seem as suddenly fall ; but my tempta- 
tions are oftener in the beginning at least calm, and 
at times rise with a sort of philosophical air which 
prevents my discovering so clearly their real nature. 
Sin is sin, thou of little faith ; and no doubt the 
more slowly and deliberately it enters, the worse it is." 

<( Jesus can be truly loved only when the sinner 
sees his own worthlessness. Indeed, this doctrine of 
the depravity of the human heart seems to be the 
keystone of the Bible. Without it, all must be dark ; 
with it, all light and sunshine." And then he marks 
out for special examination, these two subjects : — " A 
deeper acquaintance with the true nature of sin, as it 
must be in my own heart ; and following from this, 
a stronger and far more earnest practical love to 
J esus ; and following from both, more real love to 
immortal souls, manifested by earnest prayer and 
unwearied action." 

" January 17. 1 847. — Sin overcame me ; the pun- 
ishment has come in the form of distance from the 
throne of grace. How real are the Lord's contro- 
versies with His people, and how utterly incapable 
are they of recovering the distance between them and 
their God, which their sin has caused." 

"January 19. — Finished essay on Conscience. 
Strange that I have scarcely ever received a more 
deadly thrust from the great Apollyon than during its 



CONFLICT. 



107 



composition ; my conscience more sadly wounded ! 

the marvels of electing love ! The Lord has not 
left me to perish in my sins. ' Not for your sakes do 

1 this, saith the Lord/" 

" I have often longed to be like Caleb and J oshua, 
who followed the Lord fully ; but I fear that I would 
have been among the first to fall in the wilderness/' 

" Oh unclean, unclean, unclean ! from the sole of 
the foot upwards, soul and spirit alike unclean. 
wretched man that I am ! Woe is unto me ! Yet 
behold the Lamb of God whom thou hast crucified, 
who is saying continually, 6 Behold me, behold me. 
I bore the guilt of these thy sins upon the Cross. 
My grace is sufficient for thee/ O the height and 
depth of the love of God and the glory of Jesus 
Christ. How perfect must His work be that can 
justify so great a sinner/' 

He passed through some weeks of severe conflict 
with corruption and darkness of spirit. It was as if 
there had been a cloud between him and the sun. 
Yet never all that time was he led to doubt of his 
personal interest in the Saviour. He still (says a 
friend in referring to what he heard from his own 
lips) kept hold of Christ, and could say, " My God/' 
He writes : " O to awake to the full joy of life ! If 
I have little pleasure at present in heavenly things, 
I have still less, or none, in earthly things. My heart 



108 THE lord's willingness to bless. 



I know to be cold to Jesus, but it beats no quicker 
after this world. Hasten, Lord, the time when I 
shall rejoice in Jesus with all my heart and with all 
my soul/' 

" Yesterday, I had some liberty in praying for the 
spread of the glorious gospel, for reviving times for 
our Church, and for a baptizing of the students for 
the great work ; to-day, my prayer was languid and 
faithless. 9 ' 

" N othing almost has struck me more than changes 
in my belief as to the Lord's willingness to bless His 
chosen, whether in their own souls or as a means of 
good to others. Upon turning my thoughts to this 
subject to-day, it seemed to have been an utter stranger 
in my soul for long. I have found that my heart was 
full of the plainest unbelief in regard to this. The 
willingness of my God to bless seemed to have passed 
altogether from my mind." 

" may the blessed Holy Spirit reveal this once 
more, and with greater force than ever, even a full 
sense of the Lord's willingness, in Christ, to bless His 
people, and to make them a blessing, Luke xi. 1 3. 

"January 1848. — For five long days my soul has 
been saying, ' Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth V 
May the Lord teach me all the controversy He has 
with my soul. Such an experience as this proves to a 
demonstration that salvation is wholly of the free 



LONGINGS. 



109 



grace of God." " This morning the experience of my 
soul found apt expression in this verse — 

* Like as the hart for water-brooks 

In thirst doth pant and bray ; 
So pants my longing soul, O Lord, 
That come to Thee I may.' 

Yet in the midst of it, from time to time, I was en- 
abled to say, e He hath done all things well.' What 
will glory be, when these longings after God, even 
the living God, shall be fully satisfied, yet never 
satiated ? 

"The Bride was sick of love on two occasions. Once, 
when ImmanueFs left hand was under her head, and 
His right did embrace her. Again, when she had 
grieved away her Lord, and went out into the street 
to seek for Him, and found Him not ! What have all 
the affairs of earth seemed to my soul lately, compared 
with finding Him \" 

He speaks of some hindrances of a general kind 
that often intercept the soul in its way to God, or 
turn it aside from the way. 

"April 3. — The surest way to stop a believer's 
growth in grace is for him to begin to think highly 
of himself ; for God abhors His people's boasting of 
what is no more theirs, and is no more of their mak- 
ing, than are the hosts of heaven/' 

" April 10. — The want of the morning season of 



no 



CORRUPTION IN HIS SOUL. 



devotion, wherein the heart is fixed, and the soul is 
made thoroughly on the Lord's side, leaves one open 
to be led away. Unless we seek first the face of the 
Great King, meeting with other believers is com- 
paratively profitless. 6 When the soul is carnal, every 
thing becomes like an electric conductor, to carry off 
anything of the heavenly fire which may remain/" 

" 7th May 1 848. — Sometimes, as I may say, the 
devil runs riot in my soul, suggesting along with my 
wicked heart every sort of abominable, loathsome, and 
self-righteous thing. Sometimes the thought of having 
anything apart from Jesus Christ is as a sword within 
my bones. At other times, such thoughts rise as com- 
placently and calmly, as if they were the most rea- 
sonable in the world. Thus is my heart at times 
perplexed and in dismay. Sometimes, by the purify- 
ing and cleansing grace of God, my soul seems to 
resemble well-polished armour, from which every 
shaft of the enemy glances off without almost any 
effect ; while at others, it is like the same, indented 
and rusty, which lets no arrow pass it by." 

"20th May. — What an amount of obstinacy and dis- 
agreeab]eness of temper is in me. Self, also, and pride 
continually assail me. I see to a demonstration that 
nothing short of the power of the Almighty can pre- 
serve me from its endless attacks. It is an enemy in 
possession of the fastnesses of my heart, from which 



COEEUPTIOXS — HELPLESSNESS. 



Ill 



the Lord of Glory, who bruised the serpent's head 
under His own pierced feet, can alone expel it. The 
Lord help me, for I am a leper from my mother's 
womb. 

" My corruptions are as a sea around me. Wherever 
I turn the eye, I can at times see no shore what- 
ever. what a song in heaven shall mine be ! 
What a heavenly day will that be when the Divine 
One comes from the court of the King. Think of 
this, my soul, and tune thy harp even now — 

' A new song then my soul shall sing, 

A theme of glory shall it be : 
Let heaven's wide arch with praises ring 
When glorious Christ proclaims me free !' " 

" 2d J une. — Talking with a student who does not 
seem to realise the depths of iniquity. Yet he loves 
Jesus ; and whoever loves J esus, my soul, by grace, 
doth love/' Here is surely true charity ; and it was 
his wont to judge thus of those in whom he saw any 
spark of grace. 

u July 1848. — If for one moment the hand of the 
Mighty God of Jacob is taken from under thee, where 
art thou, my soul ? Defenceless, as had been the 
little lamb which, when a boy, I once saw in the 
den of the tiger, had the keeper withdrawn. 

* Eemember, my soul, that it is no writing of 
resolutions with pen and ink that will ever in the 



112 



CONFLICT — DISCOVERIES. 



least keep a soul from committing sin. No ; all the 
resolutions made by a man himself fly as dust before 
the whirlwind, when the hour of real temptation has 
come. He may make many resolutions when remorse 
is biting his conscience ; but let him beware when 
the real hour has come. Nothing then for the poor 
sinner, but the free, all-sufficient grace of Jesus 
Christ/ 9 

" 6th Feb. — Severely handled yesterday morning 
by the evil heart within, — a kind of drawn battle 
whether carnality or spirituality were to prevail. I 
could not have believed the strength of the former to 
have been so indomitable. I sought to put it down, 
but it struggled and resisted. 

" Eminent holiness is eminent happiness. I have 
never been so happy or joyous as when meditating 
upon or crying after holiness ; or when my heavenly 
Father has given me to rest in the holiness of Christ 
Jesus." 

"Sept. 1851. — I need much grace among my 
books ; they are more and more as my companions 
and friends. 

" Imperiousness is one of my besetting sins ; how 
distant from the spirit of a little child ! Prayer is 
sometimes like climbing a steep hill, and the mind 
is ever ready to wander from God. Still, after all, 
Jesus is the load-star of all my hopes and desires. 



WATCHFULNESS. 



113 



u Feel my need of more than an Indian's watchful- 
ness against my spiritual foes." 

He was one who knew well that his acceptance 
with God did not depend on his frames and feelings, 
but on the unchanging and unchangeable work of 
Christ, which his soul heartily embraced. But he 
noticed his changing frames as bearing upon his pro- 
gress in sanctiflcation, and in this light they are most in- 
teresting to us. He thought that in this way he might 
" learn some of the deeper notes of David's psalms." 

"7th December 1852. — As months and years of 
sorrow are said sometimes to be enclosed in an hour, 
so some hours of heavenly bliss seem to contain the 
joys of many days and months. How divine is the 
calm which then fills the souL It is like a well of 
water, springing up into everlasting life." 

"8th — 13th December. — What I most need is a 
constant faith. O for that watching and praying in 
midst of temptations which often come in a body, 
troop upon troop, pouring down on the souL 

" Some cries unto God for a blessing on my future 
ministry. The sad ignorance of which I am conscious 
— the blindness — the cleaving to man's opinion — ta 
the earth — the damps of practical atheism — the long 
tracks of faithlessness — the temptations of the enemy 
— O Lord, let all these plead with Thee to send suc- 
cour unto my soul." 

H 



114 



SELF-SCRUTINY. 



" The bleak wilderness of sin which is in my soul 
seems almost hopeless. Beading M'Cheyne's Life. 
His ' Reformation' is a deep reproof to me. It is 
encouraging to see what my God and Father is will- 
ing to make His chosen ones : but rather thy only 
model must be Christ, and His promises to His people. 

" Have not had enough of secret prayer/' 

" How strangely are men stereotyped ! You meet 
them one year, the second, and the third, and they 
are still wonderfully the same. O for grace that will 
penetrate every part of my nature. 'Follow thou 
me/ Be ever examining the way that thou goest, to 
find the foot-prints of the blessed J esus. Seek to be 
an expert discoverer of these footprints. Kemember 
that Satan often assumes the make of thy Saviour's 
sandal ; yet the wary eye can detect the difference/' 

"2d August 1856. — I perceive that I have the 
elements of all false doctrine in my heart/' 

" I find that what seems spirituality of mind must 
be tested by the word of God/' 

So far, then, we have followed him in his search 
into sin and his sinful nature. Now let us turn and 
see him as anxiously and keenly — 

II. Looking outward, delighting in the Saviour. 

"30th August 1849. — Beware of over-tension of 
soul. Religion is a resting on what God has done 
and said." 



WHAT KELIGION POSITIVELY IS. 



115 



His own daily experience was in measure that 
which is expressed by Milton, when he speaks of the 
heavenly companies that looked to Him on whom the 
Father smiled — 

" And from the sight received 
Beatitude past utterance." 

In directing souls who sought rest in God, he would 
say : " You wait for some miraculous manifestation of 
His love, and are passing by the sure testimony of 
His own word. If you rest on this or that to be 
revealed, if you would first see your name written in 
heaven and then believe, this can never be." (Letter 
to a soul at Westfield, 1848.) 

" When I hear any one dwelling in a dispropor- 
tionate degree on what religion is not, and seldom 
dwelling on the vital, life-giving, and life-supporting 
parts of divine truth, at such times my soul is ready 
to exclaim, ' Sir, we would see Jesus/ It is neces- 
sary to delineate error, yet such delineation is not 
Him in whom the whole gospel is contained. Yet 
such have their use in the church. I would fain 
learn their place and their doctrine, and having got 
from that part of the vineyard the fruit they have 
been specially enabled to bring forth, may I be led 
by Him who guides into all truth also into the sweet 
and lovely orchards of grace." 

" Fast-day. — Last day of another year. Two causes 



116 SENSE OF PARDON — LOVE OF GOD. 

of equal astonishment — my sins and God's mer- 
cies ! Had some taste, as it were, how sin will 
be regarded at the last day, when its whole gloss, 
and tinsel, and deceivableness, shall be wiped away 
for ever, and its own essential enormity and inex- 
cusableness shall appear. While I was in the full 
hope that all were pardoned, this only enabled me 
the more calmly and dispassionately to behold their 
true nature. 

" Faith should be counted a trial. Sight, is what 
the spiritual man is born for. He is born to behold 
the glory of the Father and of the Son. He is left 
without the absolute fruition of God by beholding 
Him in order to discipline, and to teach many lessons 
not otherwise to be learnt. Nevertheless, as the 
bride ought not to be satisfied till publicly united to 
her affianced, so the believer should not be so till he 
sees Jesus, and beholds the face of his Heavenly 
Father. O the wonderful love of the Father in 
choosing a family for Himself out of such a vile, and 
guilty, and ignorant race, and not to spare that Son 
Jesus, whom even we so love ; that Son whom, from 
the partial glimpses we have, we adore as the perfec- 
tion of beauty, and holiness, and love ! O how must 
the Father have loved Him, who beheld all His 
glory and loveliness, all His infinite perfections, and 
yet He spared Him not ! 



JESUS ONLY. 



117 



"0 Immanuel, when am I to look upon Thee? 
How long are mine eyes to fail while I look for 
Thee? 

" Jesus bears with me ; how then should I bear 
with others. 

"How continually should one plead for an out- 
pouring of that gracious and Christ-displaying Spirit 
whom Jesus is exalted to bestow, and whose office 
it is to humble souls at His Cross/' 

"January 1848. — Why does my soul shrink from 
that censorious spirit which is cutting, and dividing, 
and winnowing all the day ? Because it savours not 
much of Jesus Christ. I would fain be like Jesus in 
the discovery of hypocrites, but like Jesus too in an 
overflowing love to the souls of men ; in tender deal- 
ing with the weak saints ; in weeping over Jeru- 
salem/' 

u 4th February. — Have continually to fight with 
that self-righteous spirit which seeks ever to have 
something to come to God with besides Jesus Christ. 
It is marvellous how inveterate is this disposition to 
seek for something to be wrought in us, which shall 
make the soul less immediately dependent on Him! 

"0 to have meetings without ceasing with my 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ! 

" This morning could obtain little access to the 
throne. This searched me and tried my soul ; but 



118 



COMING TO GOD BY CHRIST. 



after coming out of the Mathematical class, I was 
reading that verse, - I am the way/ and it seemed to 
me that I had been seeking to get views of God and 
of His glory independent of Jesus's sacrifice. I 
forgot, as it were, that the only way to the Father 
is by the Son of His love; and this is true at all 
times, whatever be the frame of the soul. The sin- 
ner's views of the living God must evermore be 
obtained directly by the peace-speaking and peace- 
obtaining blood of J esus. The living and true God, 
the Father, can only love my soul by and in Jesus 
Christ. 

" There is an amazing unwillingness to come as a 
simple debtor to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What 
the Lord is sometimes pleased to employ to deliver 
from this, is the exhibition of the glorious plan of 
salvation, amply brought out from the word of God, 
and applied by the Holy Spirit. 

" I feel the truth of what Mr Hewitson says, that 
there is a great unwillingness to come again as a 
poor, broken sinner to the bank of Free Grace. With 
me it is ever self, self, self instead of Christ, Christ, 
Christ^ 

" 15th September. — It is amazing how the truth, 
Christ for us, has to be relearned daily and hourly. 
It is indeed an exotic. I am continually letting 
go the only anchor of hope, and beginning to trust 



CHRIST FOR US — TENBER WALK. 



119 



in myself as righteous ; but the blessed Jesus is 
all my righteousness in the sight of the Eternal of 
Days. 

u The constant sacrifice — the constant rising of the 
cl<md of incense — the continual intercession of the 
Great High Priest — above all, the continual sprink- 
ling of the blood — are ever needed to sanctify study 
and all my occupations. 

"A holy awe becomes all that dwell in his temple/'' 
''The righteousness of God has for some days 
been my constant meditation ; it has been before me 
all the day. Its effect is 1 quietness and assurance 
for ever/' 

" The golden thread of communion with my God 
was severed to-day by my sin. I was made to know 
how bitter a thing it is to offend against God, by the 
withdrawing of the gracious, soul-filling light of his 
countenance. I had to walk with the voice of an 
accusing conscience sounding in my ears, and the 
sense of my heavenly Father's displeasure heavy at 
my heart. But I continually repaired to the throne 
and fountain of grace, and would not give place to 
my enemy or to Satan. 

" Some solidity and calmness of faith. My room 
is sometimes like a little temple, where the high and 
lofty One deigns to come. It seems as if, like a 
visitor, He spent so much time with me, and then 



120 



VISITS OF GOD— CHRIST A FRIEND. 



retired, though not altogether from the house either. 
Sometimes a sweet experience of this kind follows on 
a temptation, in which Satan's personal agency is 
plainly distinguishable. Two weapons have to be 
used against him — prayer, and the word of God. ' We 
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against prin- 
cipalities and powers/ I must also remark, that in 
the particular instance I have just experienced, it was 
after I had begun to devote more time to seek the 
face of my God, that I felt myself met, as Bunyan 
expresses it, by ' the fiend striding across the path/ 

" When the soul is brought to deal with its sins 
before the living God, we do not then think of Christ so 
much as a Friend, but rather as our Advocate, by 
whose atoning work the way is opened to the living 
God." 

a The great work of the atonement for sin was 
finished long before the sinner was born into the 
earth. Hence it is in no way dependent upon 
what he may say, think, or do. ' By grace are ye 
saved/" 

" I sometimes feel as if I had only passing emotions 
of affection to Jesus, but I trust He has lately heard 
my cry, and shewn me more of Himself, and drawn 
out my love more strongly to His glorious person. 
Blessed be His name !" 

" This evening in prayer found no comfort, and as 



CHKIST SET FORTH — FRUITS. 



121 



little in reading God's word. I could not fix my 
thoughts upon the Saviour ; I felt deserted of God. 
At last in prayer I began to find that I was not look- 
ing to the Cross of Christ. Taken up with trying to 
see the Saviour as a f fiend only, I fear I forgot Him 
as one who died upon the accursed tree in order to 
save me from just punishment. In this I obtained 
some relief." 

Rothesay, June 4. — As each day passes over my 
head, am I taught more and more the necessity of living 
as if Jesus were now walking through the world with us? 
Let me set before my face His blessed example, and 
picture to myself how He would act were He in my pre- 
sent position. He would not neglect study, nor social 
intercourse, nor would these things lead Him away 
from continually seeking the good of souls around 
Him." 

" April 1848. — The souls of even His children are 
narrow in spiritual things, and the Lord of the 
vineyard sees fit to bid the different fruits spring 
up in different parts of His field. All fruits have not 
the same flavour, all flowers have not the same smell. 
The lily of the valley represents one view of Jesus 
and is not the same with the ' Rose of Sharon/ Some 
fruits are even valued for their acidity, as the 
lemon, and have their special uses. Yet all combined 
by the skilful gardener, yield a very pleasant fra- 



122 



FULL OF HIS LOVE. 



grance ; so combined, that when the north wind awakes 
and the south wind comes, and they blow upon the 
garden, the smell of spices that flows forth is most 
sweet to the Bridegroom, for whom the garden is 
'a garden enclosed — a spring shut up— a fountain 
sealed/ Even as the husband of the washed and 
sanctified one declares, when He views her clothed in 
His own spotless loveliness, ' How fair is thy love, 
my sister, my spouse ! how much better is thy love 
than wine ! and the smell of thine ointment than all 
spices/ " 

"June. — My soul longs for the time when, through 
the abundant outpouring of Jehovah's Spirit, I shall 
be lifted up and cast into the sea of the love of 
Jesus, and float away towards the heavenly rest, 
self being drowned ; while the love and person (the 
unsearchable, incomprehensible love, and the all- 
glorious Person) of Jesus, shall possess my whole soul, 
so that the whole spirit and soul and body shall be 
His, and His only, for time and for eternity. 

" I do think that the most spiritual is still the 
most potent. Those are the engines which are 'mighty 
through God to the pulling down of strongholds ; 
casting down imaginations and every high thing that 
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and 
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedi- 
ence of Christ. 



MORTIFICATION OF SIN — CHRIST^ RICHES. 123 



" Also seek to maintain c a conscience void of 
offence towards God and towards man/ Nothing so 
paralyses effort for the Master, nothing so grieves the 
Holy Ghost, as a conscience troubled, ill at ease, 
because of sin against God or man/' 

" One hour of the presence of Jesus in the soul is 
more effectual for the mortification of sin in the heart 
and life, than ten thousand exhortations and resolu- 
tions of the man himself. Sin cannot dwell with 
Jesus. If He is brightly manifested, and His beauty 
causes the poor pilgrim's heart to melt within him, sin 
then seems to lose all its power. It is not so much that 
it is sensibly hated as that its sources are neglected, 
and at last disliked. He then glories in such words as 
these : " Christ, who is our life/' His very soul is 
living in Jesus. "Mortify therefore your members 
which are upon the earth," is a sweet and inevitable 
conclusion. The premises contain it so fully, that no 
tongue can express the sweet and absolute necessity 
of the conclusion/' 

" The sum of the message of the minister of the 
gospel is, 6 the unsearchable riches of Christ.' Hence 
the true minister of Jesus must himself have got such 
a view of those riches, that he can conscientiously 
declare them to be unsearchable. Hast thou come 
to the shore of the ocean of Immanuel's heavenly 
glory, of His merits, of His fulness, and so surveyed 



124 Christ's kighteousness — god hiding. 



some of the pebbles (like the philosopher of nature), 
that thou canst say, ' O the unsearchable riches of 
Christ !' 

" Luther's preaching at the Diet of Worms was all 
about Christ and salvation. 

u These divinely instructed men were willing to be 
nothing that Christ might be all, and thus God was 
glorified in and through them. 

" Must beware of spurious devotion, superstition, 
and of any thing contrary to the Scriptures. The 
church history of the 16th century is well fitted to 
enforce this/' 

" December 1 848. — The Holy Spirit loves to make 
a man like the spotless Sun of Righteousness. He 
loves to bear witness to Jesus ; both in the inspired 
word, and likewise by epistles written on the coun- 
tenances and lives of the redeemed children of the 
kingdom. Let me see that I do not falsify His testi- 
mony by ungodly thoughts, words, or deeds/' 

" It is often asked by believers, Does Cod hide His 
face from His own in mere sovereignty ? He might 
do so, but the experience of His people testifies very 
unanimously in favour of the statement made in the 
following paragraph : — 

" As far as my experience has gone, I have seldom 
been sensible of a withdrawing of my Lord's counte- 
nance without being able to assign some sin as its 



THE REVEALED AND THE REVEALER. ] 25 



cause. The bitter fruit of sin is invariably an inter- 
ruption of intimate communion with, my heavenly 
Father. The blood of Christ, and that because He is 
the Son of God, is the only cure and comfort for the 
sin-laden soul/' 

"The Holy Spirit reveals Christ. Therefore, if 
the believer looks so exclusively to Jesus Christ, 
that he, as it were, forgets the Revealer of Jesus, 
that is his sin. If, again, he so dwell upon the Revealer 
that he forgets the revealed, that is his sin. The path 
between, O my soul, is ' that which the vulture's eye 
hath not seen/ Job xxviii. 7. Two notable cures for 
the distempers of one-sided views of the truth of God * 
are these : — 

" First, There are three persons in the Godhead, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these 
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in 
'power and glory. 

" Second, To dwell upon all the attributes of God 
as they are revealed in His Holy Scriptures. 

" Minister of J esus, J esus Christ and Him crucified 
must be the grand subject of thy preaching V 

How blessed are the following records of per- 
sonal affection, strong and tender, toward the Lord 
Jesus : — 

"I sometimes ask what is the world to me or 
I to the world ? The Master's glory, that is suffi- 



126 



AFFECTION SET ON CHRIST. 



cient to make me delight exceedingly to remain here 
as long as He desires. Where is the beauty of earthly 
things ? Apart from Jesus, they have none. I would 
rather have one glimpse of the glorious countenance 
of Immanuel than the love of the whole human race. 
The longings of my soul after Christ Jesus have 
lately seemed well nigh more than I can bear. All 
the heaven which at present my soul can find it pos- 
sible to long after is, to be alone with Jesus. I feel 
as if my heart would break if Jesus come not by His 
grace and take my soul into His everlasting arms. 
O the peerless beauty of Immanuel !" 

"Am I as one who has begun the fifth year 
of his course on the way to Zion? I trust that, 
with many sins, J esus is still all my salvation and 
all my joy. Other lords have had dominion over 
me from time to time, but not without much un- 
easiness and many stragglings to get back to Christ. 

" No earthly friend in my days of foolishness and 
sin ever called forth the longings and yearnings of 
heart which Jesus so often excites. There is one 
deep fountain of affections which none but Jesus 
has ever stirred. There is an inner chamber into 
which none but Jesus can find admittance ; the key 
of which He keeps to himself, and leaves it not to 
His poor, weak, saved one. 

" The Comforter, i. e., He who is to comfort love- 



MELTED BY LOVE. 



127 



sick souls for the absence of J esus. Remember thy 
first love. How wonderfully sweet and melting it was. 
Wa-st thou not then, as it were, dissolved in love and 
tenderness. Remember, too, thy thoughts were not 
about thyself, but about Jesus Christ. The love of 
thine espousals, when Jesus thy Lord and Saviour 
was first revealed to thy soul — when thou wert given 
away to Him out of thy father's house. Remember 
the hole of the pit whence thou wast taken, and 
wonder." 

* Sabbath Evening. — Yesterday I was insensibly 
led to think of the heavenly glory ; and for the first 
time, for long, my eye was moistened. It enabled 
me to proceed with study with alacrity, but yet in a 
subdued spirit. 'Now Jesus loved Martha and her 
sister and Lazarus/ How cold is the unbelieving 
heart ! An armed man is not more powerful than 
is temptation, nor the Indian stealing on his enemy 
more subtle. 

" The love of Christ has been unspeakably, indeed 
overcomingly, precious to my soul this day. Justifi- 
cation by faith alone, -without the deeds of the law, 
has seemed to me, as it always does, just like an 
entirely new doctrine. May to-morrow be as this 
day, and much more abundant. ' I have loved thee 
with an everlasting love/ 

"When my Creator and Redeemer causes His 



128 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST — ABBA. 



breath to play through the deep recesses of my 
nature, it produces inexpressible longings, which seem 
to exhaust the energies of my soul/' 

"July 1848. — My soul this morning was taken 
into the garden on the Mount of Olives. I was so 
sweetly filled and engaged, that I am sure I felt 
happier than was Adam before he fell. I see Jesus 
still loves to resort to that garden with His disciples, 
and to rehearse to them what they can bear of His 
sufferings there for them. He shews where the 
weariness of His soul brought Him — the Spotless 
One — to the dust of His own created earth, and 
how it made Him cry in agonies never to be fathomed 
by created soul. 

" It is in Jesus that the soul is taught to call the 
mighty God of Jacob, c Father/ It is when the soul, 
in sweet and glorious fellowship with Jesus as elder 
brother, looks up to the great God, that he cannot 
but cry, ' Abba, Father ' Some deem this blasphemy ; 
others, presumption ; others, that it tends to false 
security ; but Jesus whispers into the ear of faith, 
' 1 am ascended to my Father and to thy Father, 
my redeemed one/ 

" Surely my mouth shall sing aloud to His praise, 
while I have any being. Let everything that hath 
breath praise the Lord. The heart of Jesus was 
faintly figured forth in Solomon's, of whom it was 



INTENSE LONGINGS. 



129 



said that he was given ' largeness of heart, as the 
sand that is on the sea-shore/ But as one grain is 
to all the sand on the shores of the sea, so was Solo- 
mon's heart to that of Immanuel. 1 This is my 
Beloved, and this is my friend, O daughter of 
Jerusalem/" 

" 4th August 1848. — My soul is at times ready to 
break for its longings after J esus. I feel at times as 
if I could be alone all the day — yea, if that were 
possible, all my days — if Jesus would but shew me 
more of His love, and satisfy my longing and fainting 
soul. why is He so long in coming, and satiating 
my fainting soul? I am twice over sick of love. 

why tarry the wheels of his chariot ? O that I 
had ten thousand hearts, that I might love more. I 
feel, as Eutherfurd says, ' O what can a bairn carry 
away of the ocean V O for the breaking of the long 
night. for ;t^e shadows to flee away, that I might 
look and be filled with His overcoming love. Every 
other love is a faint shadowing of Jesus's love. One 
of two things my soul must choose, either to be 
capacitated to hold more of His love now, or to be 
removed to be with Himself. 

" holy, pure, and spotless, thou infinitely bright 
and radiant One, turn away thine eyes from me, else 

1 will faint away with Thy love. 

" sun and moon, and bright clouds with your 

Z 



130 



MORE LONGINGS. 



snowy tops, hanging under the azure dome, help me 
to set forth the glory and beauty of Jesus, for His 
hands made you all ! 

" for a thousand tongues and harps to praise 
Him. ("Well, each converted soul is such a tongue 
and such a harp.) The sea of glass, clear as crystal 
and pure as gold, is dim beside His glorious beauty, 
His depths of holy purity, of infinitely pure holi- 
ness ! 

" Oh when from His Cross He turns the eyes of His 
deep love upon me, I am constrained to cry, ' Stay 
me with flagons, comfort me with apples/ I am 
utterly overcome by the glance of such love from the 
depths of agony and woe. I cannot speak even to 
Jesus Himself. I faint and fail, and can only heave 
deep sighs, which, however, he knows well to under- 
stand. 

"22d July 1849.— At the Table, Canticles i. 13 
precious ; also Psalm Ixix. 1. It seemed to me that 
it was a feast of loves. What wilt thou have of the 
King ? That all my sins which crucified Thee, may 
be crucified in Thee. Among other sins which 
occurred to me was deep ignorance of God, and of 
the work of the Holy Spirit. 

" The dress of the Bride, from head to foot, from 
her Beloved, is the Righteousness of Christ Jesus. 
The feast, the very body and blood of Christ, all 



CHRIST PRECIOUS. 



131 



through the wilderness. Again, Hill He come' — 
only till then — was made precious. 

" Saw that Jesus, as it were, counts the number 
of shewings forth and rememberings of Him, and of 
His death. He longs and waits for the last. 

" Precious faith, precious Christ, precious feast ! — - 
all that comes from Him is precious. 

" to be continually sprinkled, to be continually 
hearing the sound of the bells and the pomegranates 
on the skirts of the High Priest's garments. 

"And now to be Christ-like, gentle, meek, and 
lowly, and to be more noble-minded. 

"Much to humble. How easy to devise and 
resolve ; how difficult to perform ! 

" Let me remember the robe which I must be ever 
wearing/' 

It will be seen that he was one who "rightly 
divided the word of life." If we might allude to and 
accommodate a saying of one of our poets, used on a 
different occasion, he felt that his own wants and lean- 
ness might be taken as an " inventory to particularise 
the abundance" to be found in the Lord J esus. His 
eye looked into the hole of the pit, but always turned 
upwards faithfully to the right hand. Now, all these 
views of sin and the Saviour were found by him in 
the word, and drawn from the word into his soul by 
prayer. On one occasion, Hewitson, his beloved 



1S2 



GRACE WON BY PRAYER. 



friend, with his finger on the verse in Mark ix. 21, 
" All things are possible to him that believeth" wrote 
him a few lines, in which he quaintly puts the ques- 
tion, a Are there any of those Almighty believers in 
the world now V We do not say that David Sande- 
man was such an one ; but we will say, that he was 
one who despaired of gaining any thing except prayer 
was used. " How short is life ! What urgent need 
that it should be redeemed ! Let me remember 
' Adia\eforu$ tfgofcvxsck, (Pray without ceasing)." We 
have already seen how this characterised him ; but it 
was so marked a feature in his life, and was so truly 
the seat of his strength and the source of all his spiri- 
tual riches, that we cannot help shewing it again. 
The world's great men reached their eminence by 
effort, not by ease : there were pathways to those 
mountain-heights which they climbed, and these path- 
ways they took pains to find out and use. And this is 
not less true of godly men ; the heights which they 
reached were won 

" Not by sudden flight ; 
But they, while their companions slept, 
Were toiling upward in the night." 

"3d January 1847. — When obliged to be much 
occupied with others, a few minutes stolen for com- 
munion with the Lord refreshes the spirit. O above 
all things I at times long to be a servant of J esus, 



PRAYER. 



133 



who will ever be stepping aside and letting Jesus, 
and Him alone, be seen. This from sad experience 
1 know to be hard to accomplish, nay, impossible, 
except by the effectual working and present influence 
of the Holy Ghost. How blessed to depend upon 
my God for daily spiritual bread. On retiring to my 
room I found the word of God calmly, sweetly, and 
solidly precious to my soul. I felt quite reluctant 
to lay it down. Alas, how seldom do such passing 
glimmerings of attainments such as these happen to 
me ! O God, how Thy people dishonour Thee, by 
not living more with Thee upon the mount. How 
much, Searcher of hearts, how much Thou knowest. 
I have brought dishonour upon Thee in not dwelling 
more with Thee upon Mount Sinai. 

u Could have prayed for long, but was called away 
to studies. Have seldom felt more of a calm glory- 
ing in the Lord than I have experienced this day. 
Feel painfully at times the want of ministers and 
others living in earnest, as if eternity were truly near. 
How cold may I myself be, by the time these years 
of study are closed ; and yet I see I need them all. 
The Lord keep me close wrapped in the mantle of 
Jesus's love and righteousness/' 

"April 1848. — I have sought to devote these last 
two days specially to fasting and prayer, before the 
gracious God and Father of Him who has these last 



134 



PRAYER. 



four years bid me arise and follow the Lamb whither- 
soever He goeth. 

" As the Lord gives me grace, I desire to devote a 
good part of my most profitable time to prayer and 
meditation on the nature and ends of the gospel 
ministry, as well as upon the doctrine which it is 
established to preach and defend." 

" 30th January 1849. — During my walk, He was 
gracious in an especial manner to me, giving me 
engaging communion with His holiness and justice. 
I found it to be very precious, yet solemn too and 
overawing, to have near access to His presence while 
walking by a retired road. I stopped for a little by 
the way and prayed more directly, when my soul 
was taken up, as it were, into His presence/' 

"March 1849. — Remained up till four in the 
morning considering my case before God. It has 
been my universal experience, that to set apart time, 
even at some sacrifice, to seek the Lord's face, never 
is without its reward/' 

" IMh December 1851. — Up early and waited on 
God, chiefly using the Hebrew Psalm 31st. I find 
a peculiar sweetness often in using the original tongue 
in worshipping. The word was made rich to my 
soul, and dwelt with me much of the day. 

" The last chapter of Exodus was also precious. 
The wonderful symbolical truth in His dwelling in 



STUDY OF SCRIPTURE. 



135 



the tabernacle, I entreated Him to fulfil to me. 
1 We will come and make our abode with him/ In 
the washing of Aaron and his sons, saw the holiness 
necessary in the service of the sanctuary/' 

" 16th December. — All my walk to-day was made 
like a serious yet sweet prayer. Was walking as 
before the great God : some awe, yet of a joyful kind : 
quite fresh, and mind unencumbered by my studies. 
Punctuality is among the things of good report, and 
is very conducive to tranquillity of soul. With me 
want of prayer always leads to undue haste/' 

At another time we read in his journal : — " In 
writing discourses, to remember, first, that without 
the immediate enlightenment of the Holy Ghost, 
there can be no apprehension of the spiritual mean- 
ing or connection of any passage ; second, the Spirit 
does not work without the due use of all means 
within reach, e.g., thorough study, comparison of spiri- 
tual things with spiritual, opinion of others, &c. 
With regard to the former, there is a continual temp- 
tation to forget our need of it ; the old nature and the 
natural mind rising up against the expectation of 
immediate help from the Spirit in finding the mean- 
ing. A clear conscience and a quiet heart are a great 
help in such high and holy study/' 

At another time : — " A very different day : my 
Lord being silent towards me, because of my iniquity 



136 CARE FOR FELLOW-STUDENTS. 



towards Him. What necessity for fearing alway, yet 
not with a legal, but a gracious fear. O Lord, sup- 
port my soul in this constant act of trust and reliance, 
that my foes triumph not over me. I need as it were 
a constant river of atoning merit wherein to wash and 
be clean/' 

Ibelievehe never allowed a fellow-student who called 
to leave his room without either himself or his friend 
engaging in prayer, if at all possible. And in their 
familiar intercourse it was both prayer and brotherly 
faithful counsel, that seasoned all their meetings 
Thus he writes : — " A student called — had prayer. 
Trust that some of His myrrh and cassia did drop 
upon my hands, and kept my soul in some measure 
of serenity during the rest of the day. 

" In a time of hard work, all the forces of the mind 
and body must be kept in proper efficiency. Com- 
pare the training of horse and rider previous to the 
race. Temperance an absolute requisite. 

" It will be sweet in heaven to join Manasseh in 
praising free, free grace/' 

Again : " There is no point on which I am con- 
scious of erring so constantly and so grievously, as in 
my apprehensions of J ehovah's willingness to enlarge 
the spiritual dwelling of His people, and to make 
them in Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit, saints, that 
is, holy men/' 



A TEUE PILGRIM. 



137 



Evidently with a wistful eye to future usefulness, 
like that of him he so admired, we find him quoting 
the following notice : — " Oliver Heywood, in one 
year, besides his stated Sabbath work, preached one 
hundred and fifty times, kept fifty days of fasting and 
prayer, nine of thanksgiving." 

His holy living is all the more remarkable, inas- 
much as during all these years he enjoyed robust 
bodily health. He was temperate in all things, and 
wise in attending to the ordinary means of preserving 
health. There is an allusion (5th May ] 847) to " a se- 
vere sick-turn/' and it lasted not long ; nor were such 
turns frequent. The Eefiner wished to shew, in the 
case of His servant, that He can purify in more ways 
than one. We are made "clean by the word He speaks 
to us" (J ohn xv. 3), when it pleases Him, without per- 
sonal afflictive chastisement. Here is an example of it. 
For here is a true pilgrim going steadily on his way, 
unallured by fleshly lusts that war against the soul, 
and watching unto prayer, while in possession of 
uninterrupted bodily health and strength. In the 
fulness of physical vigour, and with opportunity, if 
he had chosen, to enjoy the lawful things of the 
world in that way in which very many Christians 
enjoy them, this youthful pilgrim passed on, using the 
world as if he used it not. 



CHAPTER V, 



)is ^itMit Jtinistratiaits at ^mt 



" Know ye not that they which run in a race ran all, but one 
receiveth the prize ? So run that ye may obtain." 

1 Con. ix. 24. 



We are not undertaking to shew what of the stone 
remained rough, but what were the workings of the 
chisel of the Divine Artist on the statue which he 
was carving here. Very rarely do we find one who 
united so much strength of will with so much gentle- 
ness of spirit. But his friend Mr M'Intyre expressed 
the truth in this matter, when he said, " that evi- 
dently this loving gentleness was only in part from 
nature ; it was divine grace that had bestowed it in 
its high degree, and hence, instead of becoming 
weaker as years increased, it grew stronger. That 
continual flow and freshness of kindly affections, shewed 
plainly whence it was derived, that the fountain of 
nature was replenished by the stream of divine 
grace/' 

Very rarely, too, do we meet with one whose single- 
minded devotedness was so unostentatious and yet 
so apparent ; so thorough, and yet so cheerful ; so 



142 PREPARATION FOE THE MINISTRY. 



calm, and yet so impressive to others. It was evi- 
dent, also, that he "grew in grace/' He seemed 
more and more " to look on man as possessed of a 
soul, knowing no man after the flesh." As the time 
drew near when he was to be licensed by the Church 
of which he was a member to preach the gospel, his 
solemn feelings were deepened, while his joy in the 
prospect increased. Reading the 40th Psalm, he 
found in it suitable help for himself at such a time ; 
for he viewed it as, in one aspect, the Saviour's pre- 
paration for His ministry. For many weeks, at Tor- 
quay, with his two friends Mr Tait and Mr Coventry, 
he studied the attributes of God, some one attribute 
forming the subject of prayer and meditation at each 
meeting in succession. 

While he could say, "Solitude is a continual 
heaven to me," he was now full of joy in the expec- 
tation of his future life of action — his preaching of 
the gospel everywhere to small and great. For a 
time he seemed somewhat irresolute as to applying 
for licence, as if the time were not come ; and besides, 
in the midst of all home-work, there opened to his 
view the vista of his possible departure for China. 
While he writes that a letter from Mr Moody Stuart 
(whose ministry and whose prayerful counsel he so 
valued) had gone far to decide his mind in applying 
for licence, he " is seeking daily to mention the mattei 



THE SICK — HIS CREED. 



143 



of China before God. O for the wind from God, if 
it is His will, that our ship sail thither ! " 

Some of the qualifications of a true pastor he 
possessed in a high degree. One of these was sym- 
pathy with the sick and afflicted. His manner was 
very tender, and his words expressed his heart, while 
he led them to the " rivers of water in a dry place/' 
To one to whom he had carried a bunch of grapes, he 
spoke thus : " It is the Lord that is giving them, 
and you must take them like the grapes of Eshcol, 
as a token of the abundance of the promised land." 

His doctrinal views were those of the Westminster 
Confession of Faith. 

"2tth November 1854. Confession of Faith. — 
Beading and praying it over, chapter by chapter, 
was made not only to agree with, but greatly to 
admire, its statements. The truth of God therein set 
forth rose before me as an edifice of God, founded, 
built up, and completed in all its parts." His sign- 
ing that Confession on the day of his receiving licence, 
was no mere form ; it was done with consent of head 
and heart. This took place 11 th January 1855. 
He writes — 

" When I was pronounced a preacher of the gos- 
pel, felt moved ; and, if alone, could have wept. 
Remembered that now, and until death, I was a 
Preacher of the Gospel of Christ" 



U4< 



DEDICATION. 



And then follows a new dedication of himself. It 
was with no legal feelings, but as an act of grateful 
love, that he more than once engaged in this sur- 
render of himself. Perhaps he himself would have 
expressed how he felt in the transaction by using 
the words of the Song of Solomon (viii. 2) : <e I will 
cause him to drink of the spiced wine of the juice of 
my pomegranate/' The first of these occurs in the 
third anniversary of his " new birth/' and is entitled, 

" Dedication of my body, soul, and spirit to the 
Lord : — 

" As I believe that the Lord Jehovah, God of all 
nature and grace, has put His Holy Spirit in me, 
working faith in my soul, so that I have been per- 
suaded and enabled to embrace Christ the Lord as 
my only Saviour — my 'all in all' — henceforth, by 
His sure word and inward testimony of the Spirit, I 
know that I am called — 

(1.) To renounce, once for all and for ever, all 
property in myself; that, in truth, I am no longer 
my own, but Jesus Christ's, purchased by his own 
infinitely precious blood ; that the Holy Lord God 
the Father gave me to His Eternal Son from ever- 
lasting, for His great and glorious name's sake. 

" (2.) Henceforth I am called of my heavenly 
Father to renounce also all property in friends or 
relations, or in any of mankind, apart from Jehovah 



DEDICATION. 



145 



Himself ; I am to have to do "with these only as 
from the Lord, and in the Lord ; I am to remember 
that I have forsaken them for Christ's sake ; since 
I am married to the Lord, I have forsaken my father 
and mother, and am joined unto the Lord, and we 
are now ' one spirit.' 

" (8.) Henceforth, lastly, I am called to forsake the 
world, and all that is therein ; God the Lord is my 
portion ; heaven is my home ; I am here now only 
as a stranger and a pilgrim. Glory be to the re- 
deeming grace and love of Jehovah, the Lord of 
hosts ! Therefore, I have to do with the things o£ 
time, only in so far as the honour and glory of the 
Lord is concerned in them. 

" But blessed be the name of the Lord, I am not 
only called to renounce, for His sake, self, friends, 
relations, and this world, but also henceforth to f live 
unto God ' being bought with a price ; therefore, by 
grace, through grace, the Lord calls me to glorify 
God c in my body and in my spirit/ which are God's. 

<: Here, then, O my God and Father, do I, by Thy 

good and Holy Spirit, purchased by the blood of the 

new covenant, declare in the presence of Thee, the 

Triune Jehovah, and before the elect angels, that I 

do now most joyfully, and with all my heart and 

soul, yield unto Thee my whole person, body, soul, 

and spirit, my relations and friends, my portion in 

K 



146 



SELF-SURRENDER. 



this world, and all things belonging to it ; that 
henceforth as Thou, O my God and Father, dost grant 
me grace, Thy glory shall be more than ever before 
me, the one grand end of my existence. I have been 
sweetly constrained, by the effectual working of Thine 
own grace, to leave all and follow Jesus. O Jehovah 
my God, conclude Thine own work in my soul, and 
sweetly constrain me to live only for Thee. O do 
Thou make it my sweetest food, my most refreshing 
drink, to do Thy will, O my Lord, and my God. 

" O my Blessed, my now exalted and glorified Re- 
deemer — do Thou sign for me what I have now been 
constrained to declare. It can only be made effectual 
by Thyself, dwelling more constantly in my soul. O 
my Saviour, may I now know in a sense I have never 
yet experienced, ' to me to live is Christ/ " 

We may here insert what occurs in his journal in 
1850, in reference to self- surrender. 

" ] 2th August — At Mr Hewitson's funeral. That 
eminent minister of Jesus laid with his kindred dust. 
Had a walk in his garden, where once before 1 gave 
myself to the Lord, and sought to repeat the sur- 
render. He is now among those whom I long to 
meet in glory, another link to the ' heavenlies/ where 
is my Lord and Saviour, and my heavenly Father/' 

And now let us peruse his fresh dedication of him- 
self. 



ANOTHER DEDICATION. 



147 



"llth January 1855. — Almighty and Eternal 
God, have mercy on my soul for Immanuei's sake ! 
This soul, body, and spirit are thine by creation, thine 
by redemption. And by incomprehensible love and 
mercy called, as I humbly trust, to be thine in the 
ministry of the Gospel, in and by Thy Holy Spirit 
alone, I do now surrender my whole body, soul, and 
spirit unto Thee, the Lord Jesus Christ, and unto the 
Father, for the glory of God in the ministry of the 
gospeL Thus, by the powerful grace and Spirit 
.granted continually unto and working in me, the one 
great end of my life on earth shall be the glory of 
Jehovah in the salvation of lost sinners, and the edi- 
fication of the saints. By His grace and Spirit I do 
also now renounce the world with its honour and 
glory, and above all, self-glory, the flesh, with all 
its works, and the Devil Jehovah, pour down 
the Holy Ghost upon my soul ! Thou glorified Im- 
manuel, Thou hast the Spirit without measure, O 
pour down of the Holy Ghost, making me full of 
faith, and of the Holy Spirit, and so of gospel power, " 

On the Sabbath following his being; licensed, he 
preached his first sermon. It was in Glasgow, in Mr 
Somerville's Church, Anderston, " ciying incessantly 
for grace and anointing from above, and for skill to 
catch men." His second opportunity of preaching was 
at Bothwell ; and of it he thus writes : — 



148 



FIRST DAYS OF PREACHING. 



6t 2lst January. — Preaching here to-day was to 
me as the service in the tabernacle of the Highest. 
A great fear and awe possessed my spirit, as worship- 
ping the Eternal of days. My soul was as if transported 
afar into the presence of God, and there all the people 
were gathered on the mount of the Lord. The powers 
of nature were stilled, and the voice of the gospel of the 
glory of God poured around me. Yet I was not uplifted 
either ; all was quietness within and without. After 
all the day's service, looking still to God, and crying for 
washing in the Fountain." 

A few days afterwards, he received a letter request- 
ing his services at Hillhead, a station about three 
miles from Glasgow, where for some time previous 
the Spirit of God had been at work among the min- 
ing population. " Much drawn to that place," is his 
remark ; and he prepared to comply with the request. 
Meanwhile, preaching at Shotts, "the proximity of 
the place to the scene of the wonderful effusion of the 
Spirit under Livingstone's preaching,* filled my mind 
with strong desire for the same/' 

But it may be well for us more fully to explain, at 
this point, the state of things at that station where 
he was now for a time to labour. The colliery vil- 
lages of Jordanhill and Hillhead presented a large 
population, upon which the labours of a man of God 
* In 1630. 



HILLHEAD — ME, ALLAN. 



149 



might be bestowed. Accordingly, in 1 854, Mr J ames 
Allan, a native of Huntly, and lately licensed as a 
probationer of the Free Church of Scotland, began 
his labours here. From the very first, many who 
heard his rousing and most faithful appeals, were 
startled. Fervent in prayer, and no less fervent and 
impassioned even in preaching the word, Mr Allan 
was soon blessed of God to win souls. After a visi- 
tation of the cholera, in the end of that same year, a 
decided work of awakening began among the miners 
and their families. At this day, I am personally 
acquainted with very many of those w T ho were then 
brought to Christ, and can testify to the decided 
character of that awakening. Though it did not 
extend to great numbers, those who were then taught 
of God took up their cross, and have continued to 
follow their Lord through good report and through 
bad report, and the Lord has not forsaken them. Mr 
Allan, however, was subject to pulmonary complaints, 
and on this account, as well as for other reasons, was 
compelled next year to retire. And this was the open- 
ing that brought Mr Sandeman among that people. 

How similar in many respects were the feelings 
and views of Mr Allan to Mr Sandeman's, may be 
judged of by a letter of the former, which we here 
insert. It is written to his friend J. S. at Hillhead. 
After introductory matter is over : " One of the best 



150 



MR ALLAN. 



means of maintaining spirituality of mind" (says Mr 
Allan), " is the habitual endeavour to do what spiri- 
tual good we can around us. It is just as good for 
us as it is for others to cultivate a missionary spirit. 
I found when on board ship, that I received no little 
damage, because I made so few efforts to do good 
among passengers and crew. It is well, perhaps, to 
have some one soul, or souls, specially in view, whom 
we may ply with our counsel, and for whom we may 
make our special supplications. More than most 
means of grace, in point of usefulness, has been the 
attempt to address anxious souls. I have felt while 
doing so as if in a better world. I hope there are 
still some anxious souls in your quarter. O my 
friend, cultivate a tender conscience that will not 
endure the least outward evil, or inward motions of 
the soul to it either. Slight thoughts of sin fly like 
fire and spread like it ; and when once they take 
root, the soul can scarce ever recover its tone. And 
then, we have to do with a God so holy and so strict. 
Let us beware, for even ' our God is a consuming fire/ " 
And again to Mrs P. : " It is the undying pursuit 
of holiness that marks the true believer. See to it, 
also, that you feel more and more ready all your days. 
O may the day never come when you will be satisfied 
with your past experiences. If you are right, the 
more you get, the more you will long for the hidden 



BEGINS WORK AT HILLHEAD. 



151 



manna. The Lord give us eyes to see His beauty, 
the freeness of His love, the superabundance of His 
grace ! " At another time : " Keep your conscience 
sprinkled hourly with the blood, and be filled with 
the love of God in Christ. You must come to Him. 
' He loved me and gave Himself for me V O if we 
knew Him ! Him ! that pierced, bleeding Him ! " 

Such was the man of God,* whose labours Mr 
Sandeman now came to follow up. Exulting in the 
work of proclaiming the gospel, he felt that just on 
that account he must be Christ's, and His alone. 
" O for souls now ! What would I not give for those ! 
and for faith, wisdom, and zeal to win them !" 

"11th February, Sabbath, Hillhead. — My soul 
thirsts for Thy holy blessing, O Jehovah ; for the 
plucking of precious souls from Satan's grasp ; for the 
manifestation of Thy word with power on the hearts 
and consciences of men. O Lord, let some drops of 
the heavenly shower support my soul that it may 
not sink. There is an emptiness and readiness to 
fail in my heart, which nothing but a new manifesta- 

* Mr Allan died 8th September 1858 at Bretton, near Wake- 
field, in his sister's house, " rejoicing in Christ, and saying he was 
going home." His beloved friend, the subject of this memoir, 
preceded him into glory only about six weeks. Both seemed 
instruments fit for the Master's use, and yet both were speedily 
called away. The resurrection-morning will cast light on these 
mysterious ways of our sovereign God. 



152 



BLESSING COMES. 



tion of the truth and love of Jesus, and the salvation 
of never dying souls, can fill or remove. 

" Heard of one weeping for her sins after the ser- 
mon, which deeply affected me with love and grati- 
tude." 

It was not long before he heard of more blessing. 

" Monday, 20th February. — Good news this even- 
ing, that some souls have found peace. One, after 
yesterday's sermon, went home, pleaded, seemed to 
find Christ, and was filled with joy, after a pretty 
severe struggle with the enemy." 

His walks for recreation were always walks of 
usefulness. " Pleasant walk, speaking to some by 
the wayside. Visiting the cottages, I find to be 
engrossing work. Tried to cry through the day for 
6 The Bain/ " On the following Sabbath, when he 
preached on Rev. iii. 20, " Behold, I stand at the door 
and knock," many were moved, and many old con- 
victions were revived in some. He says that, before 
preaching that day, he had had much prayer with 
Mr Allan, and that during the service his own soul 
felt compassion, love, and authority. 

Why is it that we so often find ministers of Christ 
who seem to labour for years without fruit ? Why is 
it that they are content with this state of things ; 
and so far from expecting that it should be otherwise, 
do often suspect the work of God when they hear of 



WHY IS SUCCESS WONDERED AT ? 



153 



it under the ministry of others ? Those very ministers 
who cast doubt on the genuineness of the blessing 
vouchsafed to a brother, are frequently men who might 
be said almost to boast of the doctrine of divine 
sovereignty. They forget, in such cases, to apply 
their own views of truth ; or else they allow their 
partial views of doctrine unconsciously to weaken their 
sense of responsibility lying on them for the use of 
every means. It will generally be found that such 
objectors, or suspicious observers, are not themselves 
stretching every nerve in prayer, and yearning with 
all compassion over souls. They are oftener pleasing 
themselves with doctrine, and with Church order, and 
conscientious attention to the routine of duty ; leaving 
to others the Epaphras-like u labouring fervently in 
prayers" (ayuvify/uevog wrsg vpuv, Col. iv. 12) for the 
souls to whom they preach. 

Sometimes, too, expectation is not at work. The 
Lord says, " Open thy mouth wide then He will 
fill. Now, if this expectation be in abeyance, is it 
not the eye of faith looking away from Him who has 
the gifts, ere ever the gifts that were sought for have 
come ? When expectation is not cherished, is there 
not something of unbelief at work ? 

All along, and from the first moment of his minis- 
try, Mr Sandeman looked for blessing. Believing 
that God is sovereign, he on that very account ex- 



154 



IMMEDIATE CONVERSION. 



pected to see Him take souls that were to the eye of 
man most unlikely. Believing God to be sovereign, 
he all the more looked out for " these things ■ * being 
" revealed to babes/' Believing God to be sovereign, 
he felt that at any moment, and why not at this 
present moment, he might open blind eyes. He 
noticed, also, that in the New Testament all the 
instances given of conversion are instances of very 
rapid conversion — a few hours, or a few days, suffice 
for the soul's passage from darkness into marvellous 
light. There is there no prolonged law- work, stretch- 
ing over years. It looks too much like a process which 
man himself is carrying on, and not God, when we 
find a conversion extending over months and yeto, 
and issuing in dim light and dull hope after all. 
Whereas it is to be expected of conversions that are 
not man-made, but altogether of God, that they 
should be rapid, bearing the stamp of the creating 
power of Him who said, " Let there be light ; and 
there was light." It was so with conversions in the 
times of the Acts of the Apostles, the days when the 
Holy Ghost was working gloriously. 

There is an undefinable something about some 
believers, and not less about some ministers, that 
gets them favour with their brethren. We often 
call it unction. Mr Sandeman had it personally 
and in his preaching. I find him at an earlier 



UNCTION — RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 155 

period referring to it in others in the following 
manner : — 

"January 1848. — Is it not one of the Lord's 
secrets, to be obtained only in the recesses of His 
pavilion ? 

" At times most believers do manifest it, but why- 
is it so short-lived? Is not the secret just c to be 
rooted and grounded in love V Indeed, transforming 
love to God, and flowing from that, love to souls, is, 
I believe, the essence of it. 

"The soul that breathes of Christ and His love 
must needs be thus winning. The minister of Jesus 
has special need of this grace. Therefore, He has 
special need of J esus dwelling in his heart by love, 
through the all-powerful working of the Holy Ghost, 
which worketh mightily in the children who are elect, 
and kept near the throne of Jehovah's glory/' 

An interesting feature of Mr Sandeman's ministry 
was the full and clear setting forth of the Righteous- 
ness of Christ; I rather think he never preached 
one sermon in which that was not held forth. One 
who was present at his first district prayer -meeting 
in Edinburgh remembers how he dwelt upon " Jesus 
passing through the billows of J ehovah's anger, while 
his life-blood dyed the waves ; but poor sinners caught 
the rope he held out to them, and were saved/' And 
as he thus began, so he continued to the last. He 



156 



Christ's righteousness. 



used to quote with great relish the words of the 
dying man, who had not been able to say much all 
his life, but who gave utterance on his death-bed to 
this declaration, " 1 am standing barefoot on the 
Rock of Ages/' And another saying was frequently 
on his lips, that of a dying believer, who stated her 
hope in these few words, " Think of that, my Judge, 
my Justifier !" It was his enjoyment of this truth 
that gave him this settled peace, and imparted such 
serenity and such equable cheerfulness to his bright 
countenance. He knew whom he believed ; and his was 
personal trust in a personal Saviour, and that Saviour 
no other than Jehovah Tsidhenu. Once I find him 

writing : — " Heard preach. My heart was knit to 

him, because he set forth the Righteousness of Christ.'" 
He was one who held most heartily and thoroughly 
the views of Augustine, regarding the passive and 
the active righteousness of Christ. With that true 
divine, he could say of the Blood, " By it my con- 
science is all over satisfaction ; the anguish of my 
past sufferings is quite swallowed up, and not so 
much as a troublesome remembrance of them is left 
behind. Mine was the sin, and His the. punishment/' 
Is not this "the worshipper once cleansed having 
no more conscience of sin?" (Heb. x. 2). And so he 
could say of the obedient life of J esus, as did Augus- 
tine in his day, " Christ's godliness suffices for my 



PEKJSONAL LOVE TO JESUS. 



157 



want of it ; His ready service for my perverseness ; 
His meekness for my intractable temper ; His humility 
for my pride ; His patience for my discontent ; His 
kindness for my hard-heartedness ; His calmness of 
soul for my fretfulness and unruly passions ; His 
gentleness for my anger ; His universal and unwea- 
ried love for my hatred, and revenge, and cruelty." 

His personal love to the Lord Jesus often struck 
his intimate friends. They saw plainly how much 
of his happiness was derived from that source. Mr 
A. C. Smith (Free Church minister at Innellan) says 
— " That love was not, as in the case of most men, 
like a feeble spark ; it seemed shed abroad. It was 
a constant living flame, that at times made his very 
face shine with a lustre of which he himself was 
unconscious." One evening, when some had been 
recounting marks that would certainly appear in real 
Christians, he exclaimed, " There is one you have 
forgotten — Love to Jesus ; and as he said it, he 
ooked up with a peculiar smile, emphatically saying, 
6 Yes, I do love Him ! " — and singing — 

" Blessed Jesus ! wouldst thou know Him, 
Give thyself entirely to Him," &c. 

Because of this personal delight in his Saviour, 
the Song of Solomon was a book of Scripture in 
which he rejoiced. Very few attain to such delight 
in direct communion with their Lord. His affection 



158 



WHERE HIS STRENGTH LAY. 



to Him was often such as thrilled his whole frame, 
while meditating on that love of His that was 
" stronger than death." 

These two features of his experience moulded every 
sermon. And then, there was something in the 
very figure of the man that drew attention. His 
figure was tall and commanding ; the profile of 
his countenance regular ; his eye black and full ; 
his voice clear and powerful ; his utterance some- 
what measured, and never rapid. But it was not in 
these things that his real strength lay ; it was in 
"laying up vials of prayer, which were afterwards 
poured down in blessing." He remarked one day, 
" Literary qualifications are not our arms ; they 
are only the polishing and ingenious ornament on the 
hilt and flat side of the sword. They have nothing 
whatever to do per se with the edge of the weapon/' 

It was the Lord's way with him, to give him short 
time to work in the various spheres through which he 
passed. He was not to be allowed to labour long at 
Hillhead ; but the believers there never forget their 
days of fellowship with him. One will tell how he 
would, on an evening, lift the latch of the cottage 
door, and, just looking in, would say, " Are you ready 
to go out with me for a night's fishing V intimating 
his wish to have him as a companion in going from 
house to house in his visitations. Another will tell 



RECOLLECTIONS OF HIS LABOURS. 159 



of his meetings for prayer. Another remembers, that 
when one said, " What shall I preach V 3 he replied, 
" Preach Christ ; it is bread they need ; it is bread. 3 ' 
Another recollects meeting him and Mr Allan as they 
came from Renfrew, and were walking fast to their 
lodgings, and this was his greeting in passing, * We 
are hurrying home to get our hearts warmed." 

Two persons were awakened by the last sermon he 
preached at Hillhead. And some who resisted the 
truth in the days of both Mr Allan and Mr Sande- 
man, have of late been given to their prayers, we 
doubt not. One of these persons, lately brought to 
Christ, tells, that before Mr Sancleman went away, 
she met him, and he knowing her to be a great pro- 
fessor, said, " If you are in the way, keep in it ; but 
are you in it T' She replied, " Yes though at that 
time out of Christ. When awakened recently, that 
reply she gave him was one of the first sins that started 
up to her thoughts, deepening her convictions and 
haunting her for a long time. In such ways as these, 
does the Lord cause His servant's words to glorify Him, 
long after they have themselves entered into rest. 

He had not laboured quite three months there, 
when his mind became decided as to his duty regard- 
ing China. For five or six years the desire had been 
cherished, or rather encouraged ; sometimes when 
laid aside, back it came, like a tide returning in full 



160 



DECISION AS TO CHINA. 



force. Such incidents, too, as the interest taken in 
the Chinese Bible Fund by his two young nephews, 
whose lives were so brief,* no doubt contributed to 
swell the tide of feeling that had already begun to 
flow in that direction. For a time, the masses of 
heathenism at home in our large cities kept the 
balance of his mind in equipoise ; but now the Lord 
whom he served brought him to an unwavering deci- 
sion : " My only regret is not seeing more'souls brought 
to God among my own countrymen, before I go to 
the heathen/' " To belong entirely to Jesus is in- 
expressibly sweet. >y " O for the powers of the world 
to come to be revealed unto my soul, and to fit it for 
the glory of Jehovah, and the salvation of poor 
perishing souls, until my own death. My Lord, O to 
be Thy witness here for a little, and then among the 
heathen, all to the great end of Thy glory, and the 
salvation of many, many souls. Surely my whole 
soul closes with my Master s call."-f- 

* See the touching and instructive story of these two young 
souls in " The Way Home." 

f There is something in this thoroughly satisfied delight, that 
reminds us of Dr Dean's narrative of Judson Dwight Collins. 
When the letter arrived that was to tell him whether or not his 
offer of service was accepted, he was at some distance from the 
village, but hearing of it, he hastened toward it, without staying 
for food. It was dark, but on he posted, till at last the letter was 
in his hand. He opened it, he saw that all was right — " Tnere was 
China." The big tears stood in his eye ; his heart swelled with 



FAEEWELLS. 



161 



He has written out his reasons in full, and they 
bear the broad stamp of impartiality and disinterested- 
ness. Still he was constrained to write : — 

u ] tth March. — I see there is more cleavingto home 
than I was aware of, and to what I love there ; but 
now it is as if Jesus said, Come with me ; forsake all, 
and I shall give thee an hundredfold for all these, 
mother, brothers, sisters, &c. A remarkable heavenly 
sweetness pervaded my soul since then. I could only 
look up, believing the love of my Lord/' 

He writes, 9th April — li First lesson in Chinese 
from Mr M." And then come his farewell days at 
Hillhead. 1 oth April. — " Much exercised and affected 
in my own soul before preaching. Much prayer 
through the previous week for the melting power of 
the word and Spirit, Beginning to speak, had not 
a little of the clearness and power which arrest men, 
and I thought that the long-looked for blessing was 
about to begin. But I fear it passed off again, and 
the bending of souls under the truth seemed to cease. 
The longing for souls how wearying to the flesh V 
On the 22d April, Scotstoitn. — "Prayer-meeting. 

emotion, arid on his knees he thanked God that he was a " mis- 
sionary to China." Such was his burning zeal and love for souls ; 
but, like Mr S., he was cut off at the age of thirty- two. His motto 
was, " Christ shall be magnified by my body, whether by life or by 
deaths (See "The China Mission," by William Dean, D.D. 
New York, 1859.) 

L 



162 



FAEEWELL AT BILLHEAD. 



Preaching to the conscience, and souls saved, are my 
great desire/' " Through grace I would say, let 
every thing else be as the dust of the balance." 
On 23d! April. — " My birth-day. O for that sober, 
calm, and yet holy zeal which the Spirit gives/' 29th 
April. — " Preached in the open air to the ' highway 
and hedge' class, who will not come to our meeting. 
In the prospect of my leaving, a man came to me 
with the tears in his eyes, saying he wished to shake 
my hand, ' because you took my feet out of the miry 
clay/" 1st May. — "My last day here. Several 
more souls reported as anxious." 

Often in China did he revert to those happy scenes. 
It was amid such breathings of the Spirit that he 
was ripening for glory, while men thought he was 
preparing for many a laborious year of missionary 
work in that vast empire of more than four hundred 
millions of souls. 

An opportunity occurred of visiting the continent, 
while getting ready for leaving home ; and so we 
suddenly find him, on 1 9th May, in Home, surveying 
the seven-hilled city. It seemed as if his Master 
wished to finish his education for the mission field, by 
shewing him the foul idolatries of professedly Chris- 
tian lands, and what the fearful result of these has been 
in regard to darkness, and degradation, and wretched- 
ness. Let us follow him to " The Eternal City/ 



VISIT TO ROME. 



163 



a 26th May. — High mass by the Pope in the 
Chiesa Xuova. Unaffected, except by the childish- 
ness of the performance, reminding me more of a 
man acting the Pope. He seemed indeed to be in 
the place of God, worshipped as God, and sitting in 
God's seat ; yet by a strong delusion sent on them, 
neither he nor they seemingly aware of their blas- 
phemy and idolatry. (2 Thess. ii. 4, 11.) 

u How powerless his blessing felt, seeing God had 
not bade him bless. Remembered that the blood of 
the saints was unrepented of, and that this man 
homologated all/' 

He had crossed the Campagna to visit Tusculum 
and Cicero's villa, though the visit was a hurried one. 
And now he has been at the old Capitol, has looked 
upon the yellow Tiber at his feet, has gazed on the 
Sabine Hills and Soracte, famed in Roman song, 
and has descried the Alban Hills. 

" Walked in the evening through the Forum 
Roma n u m, remaining till dark. Realized something 
of treading on an empire's dust." 

" Coliseum. — In the midst of it, first fully realized 
that I was in ancient Rome. Remained for two or 
three hours. Saw around me the proofs of a king- 
dom, of an empire that has come and gone, been built 
up and been overthrown, till its dust and ruins pre- 
vent the very site from being recognised Thought 



164 TEAVELLING — THOUGHTS BY THE WAY. 

of Daniel's four empires, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, 
Grecian, Roman, arisen, shaken, demolished. Then 
my soul turned and worshipped the Messiah, who 
has received the kingdom which is an everlasting 
kingdom, whose dominion shall never end." 

Here is an interesting statement and testimony. 

" In reviewing the last two months on the conti- 
nent, I have found a great safeguard in prayer and 
reading the word of God in the morning before start- 
ing, and that the day has generally taken its tone 
from that season. It was a great help also, when I 
had an opportunity, to speak to others about their 
souls/' 

At Naples, he was struck with the unblushing 
plainness and downrightness of their worship of the 
Virgin Mary. He visited Vesuvius, walking round 
the crater amid smoke and mist ; Pompeii, also, 
that disentombed city which is so full of interest. 
But his jottings of these visits can scarcely be called 
even notes. He returned by Turin, and over mount 
Cenis to Paris ; and after a few days spent in London 
and Oxford, we find him, on July 18th, in a railway 
carriage. " Was in a carriage by myself, and had 
scarcely entered it when a drawing spirit of humilia- 
tion and prayer seemed to come upon me ; and I 
could not cease from crying and breathing after God 
for more than an hour ; especially for the ministry, 



THOUGHTS BY THE WAY. 



165 



lest I should be a castaway without power of faith ; 
also for beloved Scotland. If I would reap as Paul, 
then I should prepare to sow even as he who travailed 
in birth that Christ might be formed in souls/' 

" Sabbath. — My soul was upheld. more than usual 
in preaching, as if maintained by the blessed Spirit 
of Jesus in calmness and peace, as if raised out of my 
many doubts and fears, and my iniquities not re- 
membered then against me. God, eternity, and souls, 
seemed realities ; and truly the w T ork was as the ser- 
vice of such a glorious and divine Saviour. But un- 
less the Holy Spirit be poured out upon souls, so 
that they shall be pierced and raised from the dead, 
how is the ministry fulfilled ?" 

" 3d September. — Many are my doubts and fears 
lest the ministry should be an empty sound with me. 
My heart is at times ready to fail, because hearing of 
no soul seeking salvation. But where a^ain is that 
going forth weeping ? Am to preach in the street 
this evening. Looking again into Whitefield, w^hich 
revives thoughts of former days. He says it would 
need a voice of thunder to awake the Church in his 
time to a sense of her condition and the state of 
perishing souls. How true still ; but this must come 
wholly from God. I also am as one asleep/' 

His prayer was now^ that " he might be weaned 
from Scotland/' But this was to be thoroughly 



166 



UNEXPECTED DELAY. 



effected in a way he did not anticipate. When all 
seemed in train for his ordination by the English 
Presbyterian Synod, the unexpected death of his 
father (who was cut off by cholera, at Montpellier, 
after conveying to Cannes the widow and children of 
his eldest son) caused for a time an alteration of plans. 
It was thought by many, that it must eventually detain 
David in his native land, as on him now might fall all 
the care of his father's property and the family interests. 
But he believed that, as his call was of God, the way 
would open again. His own soul never faltered in 
its purpose. 

It was now the spring of another year, and he was 
not yet on the field, but through no fault of his. 
Meanwhile we find him at Blairgowrie, sojourning for 
a few weeks, preaching the word, and pleading vehe- 
mently in prayer the Lord's words by Ezekiel, " Be- 
hold, all souls are mine/' and " I have no pleasure at 
all in the death of him that dieth/' At last his friend 
Dr James Hamilton, of Regent Square, London, sends 
him the long-wished-for notice, that his ordination to 
the holy ministry is to take place on April 26th 
1856. 

It was only a day or two after the completion of his 
thirtieth birthday, and he failed not to remember this. 

" Ordination Day. — Remained in prayer till three 
o'clock this morning. This morning the struggle 



ORDINATION. 



167 



seemed over ; my soul seemed helped from on high, 
and know not how. Fasting till before the service* 
also, helpful by His grace. Throughout the whole day, 
this word was with me — c Behold I send the promise 
of my Father upon you/ It seemed as if the only 
hindrance to receiving this blessing lay upon my side ; 
some spirit of supplication was with me. and pleading 
for the fulfilment of the cries of many years. Before, and 
at the ordination, felt that I must now lay myself upon 
the altar of God, there to remain continually. Felt that 
henceforth I must look upon myself as cut off from 
the world, as if by death ; but if thus dying as it 
were with Christ, I found that with Him also I lived 
again, not forgetting the continuous death which 
there must be ; but the glory, and love, and Spirit of 
Jesus sustained me, and raised me up unto His work. 

" My soul was poured out before God all the day, 
beseeching, wrestling, waiting, and looking up in ex- 
pectation ; and as if no longer able to plead with that 
contention of soul. I ceased, and lay silent before God. 

" At the ordination, when I knelt and their hands 
were laid on me, I was as if enveloped by the power 
and presence of ImmanueL I was overpowered, and 
wept. They were tears of supplication and unspeak- 
able joy ; the soul with all its affections, and vehement 
but still desires, was delivered up as a sacrifice unto 
God m J esus Christ. 



168 



NEW WOKK. 



" I remembered the call of the disciples, when the 
Lord called to Him whom He would. It seemed as 
if He so called me ; and I knelt at His feet, and felt 
the overpowering sense of His gracious gentleness, 
and at the same time of His majesty, as the Great 
Head of the Church, to whom all power in heaven 
and earth is given. 

" The prayers of the ministers of God, leading and 
gathering up those of all the people, I felt as if resting 
upon my head ; and, as I believe, they ascended up 
before the throne of God ; so it would be my earnest 
prayer that they may descend in a copious blessing of 
the Spirit, according to the promise of the Father, 
and the power of Him who baptizes with the Holy 
Ghost and with fire/' 

The excitement and solemnity of his ordination 
day passed over. The vessel is in open sea again. 

" Since ordination/' he writes, 3d May, " I have 
been sore broken, and that continually. It is as if 
God had broken all my bones. I remember God, 
and am troubled. Lord, work thou, and who shall 
let it?" 

It was good to be in his company. " His bright 
intent and holy walk " (remarked Dr J. Hamilton to 
the writer) " was quickening to any fellow-traveller 
who received even the shortest convoy/' On all 
accounts it was thought good that, previous to sail- 



MR RADCLIFFE. 



169 



ing, lie should visit some of the chief towns of Eng- 
land. It was well for one who now felt China to be 
his home, to go forth among the people of the English 
Presbyterian Synod in the mission to China, giving 
information, as well as impressing the duty our 
country owes to the land of Sinim, while at the same 
time he failed not to preach the everlasting gospel. 

Accordingly, we soon find him at Birmingham 
and Newcastle; and then at Liverpool, where, in 
company with the devoted Mr Reginald Eadcliffe 
(whom the Lord has honoured so much in Scotland 
since that time), he preached in the open air in front 
of the Custom-house. " It was the impression of all 
that good to souls was the result/' Xext we find 
him, with Mr Eadcliffe. at Stafford, preaching to 
the crowd assembled to witness Palmer's execution. 
At Matlock, he hears of a woman " born a^ain 
at eighty-five years of age"— a woman whose son 
had been praying for her conversion for thirty-five 
years. 

He was much, at this time, in company with Mr 
Eadcliffe, who to this day retains very lively impres- 
sions of his holy walk, and heavenly zeal, and prayer- 
ful spirit. The following letter, written in the midst 
of incessant labour, was Mr Eadcliffe's reply to my 
request to be furnished with any reminiscences of 
Mr Sandeman that might occur to him : — 



170 



MR RADCLIFFE's LETTER. 



" Glasgow, 25th September 1860. 

•'My Dear Mr Bonar, — It is with much pleasure 
that I write to you of my beloved friend. My remem- 
brances of David Sandeman are like gleams of sun- 
shine. It was when I was a student in Edinburgh, 
I suppose about eleven years ago (1849 or 1850), 
that we first became acquainted. He was present 
there at a noisy open-air service in the Grassmarket ; 
and although he would not take part, yet he stood 
as a protector, and on that spot our hearts became 
united. Some years afterwards, having to pass through 
Edinburgh, he was again lovingly by my side during 
an open-air service at night under some bridge in the 
Old Town. About the year 1856 he visited us at 
New Brighton, on the Mersey. It is fresh in my 
memory now, as returning from my business at Liver- 
pool, I found that my beloved friend had been 
absenting himself from table in order to spend time 
and strength amongst the Sandhills of New Brighton. 
Was not this the secret of his habitual cheerfulness ? 
Whilst at New Brighton, he, along with Bichard 
Weaver, the converted collier, and others, assisted at 
some special open-air services which we had round 
the Liverpool Custom-house. Amongst the fruit was 
a fallen woman, who appeared to find Christ at once, 
and who, we heard long after, was walking as becomes 
a Christian. 



MR RADCLIFFE'S LETTER. 



171 



"About this time, too, Mr Sandeman, Richard 
Weaver, and I were preaching together at Warring- 
ton on a Sabbath ; whence, in the afternoon, we 
walked to a little Cheshire village. Before entering 
the village, the party of young evangelists knelt on 
the wayside, round a heap of broken stones, and the 
Answerer of prayer very soon, in a most striking 
manner, appeared to work salvation before our eyes. 
On that night I have another very happy remem- 
brance of beloved Sandeman. One of the villagers 
had taken us into his house ; and, after prayer to- 
gether, tired enough, we lay down on the same bed. 
Brit my companion, whilst lying by my side, started 
again, praising and praying ; and how much of the 
night he so spent, I know not. We had seen His 
salvation, and Sandeman was very happy. 

"Again our beloved David, in company with Richard 
Weaver and others, met together in the ancient town 
of Stafford, for the purpose of attending the execution 
of a notorious culprit. The night before the execu- 
tion was a solemn one indeed. Thousands were 
expected to attend, and many thousands did come. 
About 70,000 short tracts were distributed. The 
hour fixed for the labourers being at their posts was 
to be three A.M. the following morning ; for, as was 
expected, the people began to assemble in the night 
time. David Sandeman and another retired for 



172 



MATLOCK. 



prayer and a little repose ; but a spirit of prayer was 
poured out, each prayed several times, and the hour 
soon arrived to go to the solemn scene. Richard 
Weaver (who is now beside me) heard David Sande- 
man solemnly preaching amid the immense crowd, just 
before the last bell began to toll, and well remembers 
him then saying — ' I stop preaching ; but that bell 
cries to every one of you, Prepare to meet thy God ! ' 
The labourers had reason to hope that not a few souls 
were blessed, and an infidel among the number. 

"When the time had drawn on for my beloved 
friend to go to China, I was invalided at Matlock, in 
Derbyshire. He came there ; and it was pleasant to 
see the happy way in which, along the roadside, he 
could stop the people, and tell each of them of that 
J esus who had made his face to wear its own happy 
smile. To this glorious J esus be glory for ever and 
ever. — Sincerely yours, R R. 

" P.S. — By a person now present with me, and 
who was then with us at Matlock, I am reminded 
that a dear minister of the gospel, observing the 
number of individuals D. Sandeman had been entreat- 
ing that day to turn to the Lord, had been ]ed actually 
to count them ; and in the evening the joy of 
Sandeman and the others in our little cottage was 
so great, that their laughter forced tears of joy. On 
the morrow he left us, and we saw him no more." 



CHESTER — LOWICK. 



173 



Mr William Hunter (brother-in-law to Mr Kad- 
clifTe), formerly a fellow-student with him in Edin- 
burgh, writes regarding his short stay at Chester : — 

" Others besides myself remember the power with 
which he spoke of the Blood of Christ But it was 
the man himself that was the sermon. I felt with 
him, more than any minister I have known, that his 
life was on a level with his preaching. And then he 
was so genial and joyous. A short time after he was 
in Chester, I was staying with Mr Radcliffe and his 
family at Matlock. To our great delight one day, 
our dear friend unexpectedly joined us, and remained 
with us two days. I shall never forget a walk I had 
with him from Matlock Green over the hill to Mat- 
lock Bath. It was a lovely summer evening, and he 
was full of life, and joy, and love to souls/' As usual, 
his hands were full of tracts, and a word was ready 
at his tongue for any soul to whom he gave the 
tract/' 

At Lowick he crossed to Holy Island, and preached 
to the fishermen, in company with Mr Fraser, the 
Presbyterian minister, who says — " There is a hillock 
near me that now always seems to me to say, £ Pray, 

pray V — -because David Sandeman took me and 

there, in sight of Holy Island, to plead for it/' 

We give his own jottings of his farewell visits as 
they stand in his journal, very brief, and summed up 



174 



TOKQUAY — MUSING ON CHINA. 



by a remarkably characteristic meditation when on 
the eve of departure. 

" 21st August, Kilsyth.- — Memorable visit. The 
old Christian minister ; remarkable prayer alone with 
me before service. During the revival of 1840 there 
were twenty prayer-meetings in a week in this place." 
[The minister was Dr William Burns, father of Mr 
W. 0. Burns, the missionary to China.] 

"Edinburgh, 6th September. — Left Springland 
this morning. Uphold my dear mother ! " 

"7th September. — Preached in Free St Luke's 
(Edinburgh), morning and afternoon.' ' 

« 8th September.— Westfield." 

" 9th September. — Hillhead." 

" 1 1th September. — Last prayer-meeting. Meeting 
in Free St Luke's before leaving Scotland/' 

" 22c? September, London. — Open air meeting with 
torches. Preaching with Mr Baillie." 

" 1st October. — Visiting Torquay, and in my fa- 
vourite seat among the rocks, and in prayer to God, 
was drawn out concerning the work before me. For 
the first time that word came to me : ' Ask of me, and 
I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and 
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession: 
And : ' I will declare the decree/ My soul was given, 
to behold it as the declared decree of Jehovah to the 
Lord ImmanueL Then, to faith's eye, China and its 



THE CHINESE MISSION. 



175 



vast millions of souls floated before me ; like the sea. 
It spread away to the horizon of vision, and under that 
word I saw it to be the sea of God, every creature abso- 
lutely His, and according to the time and purpose of 
the decree, given over to the Lord J esus for His inheri- 
tance, kingdom, and glory. Also, I saw the heathen 
as a mighty flood, whose stirred waves might swallow 
me up, or whose seductions, managed by Satan, might 
draw me in. My spirit was overwhelmed and pros- 
trate by the shore of that awful depth. Into that 
sea I seemed to be about to plunge alone and weak, 
with all its trials, and it might be dangers ; but I 
was caught up and was sustained by these words : 
' Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' 
' Depart, for I will send you far hence, unto the Gen- 
tiles/ I rose up and went my way ; but the vision 
remained with me." 

Perhaps we should have stated more fully that 
Mr S. was led to go forth in the service of the Eng- 
lish Presbyterian Synod, by the fact that that Synod 
had taken up the cause of China in 1845, had sent 
forth Mr W. 0. Burns as their first missionary in 
1 847, and having at last selected the island of Amoy 
and the province of Fuhkien as the seat of the mis- 
sion, were desirous of finding more labourers. Mr 
James Johnstone, after little more than a year's 
labour, was compelled, by the failure of his health, 



176 



THE CHINESE MISSION. 



to return in 1855 ; and, though Mr Carstairs Douglas 
had gone forth that same year, there was ample room 
and urgent need for as many labourers as could be 
sent. The mission was not in the advanced state 
in which it is now, when even the young have hymns 
prepared for their use in native Chinese, e.g., that 
one well-known in Sabbath-schools, " There is a 
happy land." But the Lord had been sealing the 
work ; for, in 1854, both in the island of Amoy, and 
in the province of Fuhkien, at Pechuia, Mr Burns 
told of an evident outpouring of the Spirit, of scenes 
resembling those recorded in the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, and of a native church formed by the mission- 
aries from this country in conjunction with those 
from America. It was in full knowledge of how the 
missionary work was proceeding there, that Mr San- 
deman prepared to take up the sickle and go forward 
to the fields that were " white and ready for harvest.*' 
He is now at last on his way to the closing scene 
of his earthly labours, though all who knew him 
regarded his departure as the beginning of a new 
season of successful work for Him whom his soul 
loved. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Jragmtnta. 

SELF-EXAMINATION — LETTERS — SERMONS. 



M If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God 
giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus 
Christ." 

1 Peter iv. 11. 



Iff 



If at this point we introduce some miscellaneous 
pieces of Mr Sandeman's, it is not with the view of 
claiming for him great literary eminence, but with 
the desire of prolonging his usefulness. There is one 
chord in our heart which may be touched by the fine 
verses of the Latin poet : 

u Ipsa quidem virtus sibimet pulcherrima merces. 
Dulce tamen venit ad manes, quum gloria vitas 
Durat apud superos, nec edunt oblivia laudem." 

(SiL Ital. xiii. 663.) 

Thus Christianized : 

M The Life of Faith is its own rich reward ; 
It asks no praise of man, no song of bard. 
Yet even in him who stands before the throne, 
Glorying for ever in his Lord alone, 
Perchance it might awake new joy to know 
That he, though dead, still speaks to men below." 

Elisha's bones were made means of life to the cold 
corpse of an Israelite (2 Kings xiii. 21). Would not 
this event at once recall the departed prophet to the 
memory of a people for whom he had lived, laboured, 



180 



elisha's bones. 



and prayed ? And without excluding the histori- 
cal lesson, Elisha's God liveth when Elisha himself 
is gone — or the typical lesson, The dead soul is 
quickened in the moment of contact with the death 
of Him who lay for us in that rock-hewn tomb — 
may we not view the incident as suggesting that it 
. may sometimes please the Lord to put power into 
the remains of His servants, to wit, into their deeds 
and words, recorded or recalled to mind when about 
to fade away from the survivors' thoughts ? 

Here, then, are some fragmentary pieces. As it 
leads us farthest back, we begin with his inquiry 
into the rise and progress of his ideas of God. 

ANALYSIS OF THE IDEA OF GOD IN CHILDHOOD, 
BOYHOOD, YOUTH. 

" Let me endeavour to find how, or by what pro- 
cess, I have arrived at my present state of belief. 

" As a Child — Hoiv did I get the idea of God? 
First Period,, 

" 1. By Instruction. — As soon as I could under- 
stand anything of such a nature, it was told me that 
a great and good Being lived in heaven, and that He 
knew what was going on in the earth, that I must 
pray to Him, because He made me, and that He was 
pleased at what was good, and angry at evil. All 
this I never thought of doubting or questioning, as 



IDEA OF GOD IN CHILDHOOD. 



181 



far as I can remember, any more than I did when I 
was told that there was a king in London. As to the 
amount of its operativeness, I do not pronounce. 
That it was operative, I have no doubt ; and, for ex- 
ample, I would not retire to rest until I had made a 
prayer at my mother's knee. All this was addressed 
to, and in a peculiar way responded to by, conscience, 
or the sense of right and wrong. 

"2. By the Booh which, 1 was told was GocVs. This 
gave reality and correctness to the idea of God. The 
consideration in which it was held by those around 
me, communicated itself to me. A saying of my 
father's heightened and verified my feelings toward 
it, viz., e When I tell you to do any thing, and you 
shew me that it is against what that Bible says, then 
I shall not ask you to do it/ 

" 3. By the outward church, where God was praised 
and prayed to. This early excited my thoughts. 

" 4. By Sabbath, called God's day. This, as often 
crossing my inclinations, was all the stronger on that 
account. Here, what I was told was the will of God 
thwarting my own, made the notion of God as a real 
Being all the more clear. 

" In Boyliood. Second Period. 

" 1. Reproving swearing among my school-com- 
panions affected my spirit. It amounted, in some 
degree, to taking part with God. It was, I think, 



182 



IDEA OF GOD IN BOYHOOD. 



one of the first independent and voluntary acts of an 
instructed natural piety, and had a corresponding 
effect in verifying the idea of God's existence, whose 
name must not be profaned. 

u 2. Lying. I disliked this, partly perhaps because 
of its effects in punishment. I don't think I prac- 
tised deception as many boys ; yet again I am led to 
think this was in a large measure owing to the same 
cause. At least, I am not aware that the idea of 
God came in to enforce the right. . 

" 3. Impressions of every hind more vivid, 
whether natural or religious. This told on character 
and convictions, and the notion of God was propor- 
tionally strong. 

" 4< A booh given me by my mother, 6 The way for 
a child to be saved' had a considerable effect upon 
me. I believed in heaven and hell in a new way. I 
remember of risings of anger and enmity against 
these, and I suspect more or less against Him who 
was the Author of both, as I learnt especially, too, 
when His interests came across and interfered with 
my amusements. I remember also distinctly wish- 
ing to be a door-post, or something of that kind, 
rather than an immortal soul, because of the eternal 
realities. In a spiteful and rebellions spirit I wished 
to get quit of them all. But this, therefore, did not last 
long. No doubt, there were various other convic- 
tions of a similar kind. So far as appears to me, 



IDEA OF GOD IN BOYHOOD. 183 



these were the natural workings of conscience upon 
the truth, and what are generality called the common 
operations of God's Spirit, so frequently met with in 
young persons who have heard God's truth. These 
were, therefore, both natural and supernatural, that 
is, in addition to and above nature. If I had not 
been possessed of these external advantages of educa- 
tion in the truth of God, I see little reason to think 
that they would ever have arisen within me. On the 
other hand, they do not seem to have (as far as I can 
consider the thing) contained any thing of a strictly 
spiritual nature. They were something more than 
natural, and less than spiritual. 

" 5. Vigour of conscience in proportion to advance- 
ment of age. It was an active monitor concerning 
good and evil. 

"6. Duty was more a principle than the mere 
desire to please my parents or masters. I am much 
disposed to think that duty stood largely in the place 
of God to me. I believed in the existence of a 
Supreme Being, but the practical influence of this 
belief was of the faintest kind. Duty, whether owing 
to parents or teachers, was tenfold more powerful as 
a moral principle ; and I am not aware that this at 
all involved any direct thought of God being connected 
in any way with the duties. Perhaps the height of 
my idea of morals reached this, that happiness was, 
in some way, related to the performance of these 



184 



IDEA OF GOD IN BOYHOOD. 



duties. As far as memory aids me, there was little 
or nothing of a spiritual nature in these thoughts of 
God and duty, however transient. I never really 
thought of pleasing God, or of doing any thing to His 
glory, or directly to and for Him. I had no know- 
ledge of Him as a Person, or real Being, with whom 
I had immediately and particularly to do. He was 
to me very much of a Mighty Abstraction, as distant 
from my ordinary life and feelings as I considered 
heaven to be from earth. 

"7. True and spiritual convictions began (towards 
the end of this period) to visit me — of the existence 
of God ; of a heaven and a hell ; of God's omniscience, 
omnipresence, &c, impressing my whole soul, and 
producing real practical results correspondingly. The 
idea of God came more fully and fairly across the 
horizon of my soul. I saw and was afraid, and re- 
pented and did good works. From that time my 
faith, I think, resembled that of devils — ' I believed 
and trembled/ But then they varied exceedingly as 
to intensity, dying away frequently, and for months 
together, to a mere notion, without any practical 
result. 

" These, I doubt not, came by the operation of the 
Spirit of God, who was beginning to strive with me 
unto salvation. The chief means towards this result 
were, the faithful preaching of the gospel, reading 
the Bible, and social prayer-meetings. 



IDEA OF GOD IN YOUTH. 



185 



" 8. 1 now clearly felt that, in whatever way I 
might have believed in God, I had never truly 
believed in Christ for the remission of sins ; that He 
was merely a man to me ; an existing person, but 
one who had no manner of real influence over my 
actions. 

" 9. There was, also, a struggle betiveen God and 
the ivorld ivithin me. Strange inconsistency existed, 
resolutions about duty and God, and yet the latter 
generally at an immense distance from my inward 
thoughts. God was utterly excluded from some of 
the most interesting and engrossing scenes of my 
existence. 

" In Youth. Third Period. 

tC I. The same as last period ; only more confirmed 
in outward morality by leaving home, and so having 
principle strengthened through exercise. Still God 
was at an inconceivable distance from my ordinary 
daily life. I knew nothing of Him as a person, and 
loved him far less than father and mother, sister, and 
friend. 

" 2. Duty, conscience, and a desire to rise in life 
were my ruling motives to action. 

<( 3. Convictions, as before ; some spiritual. Knew 
that I had a heart and mind, but no real acquaint- 
ance with my soul. 

" A thousand things had more real attraction for 



186 



IDEA OF GOD IN YOUTH. 



me than God ; love, but especially friendship, know- 
ledge, principle, &c. Yet I used to hold prayer- 
meetings with the young men of the house in Glas- 
gow, and held long conversations with one of the 
boarders on religious subjects. Read the word of 
God much, and used to rise early in order to do so. 
Strange anomalies ! 

" 4 Up to this time the Being of God was held 
by me, and His attributes ; His claims acknowledged, 
but in reality wholly despised, by loving the creature 
more than the Creator. Certain speculations and 
ideas in the mind, no true feeling (except during one 
season of spiritual conviction) in the heart. I believe 
I no more loved God with all my heart than does 
the most ignorant savage. 

"Jesus Christ was an historical character as man; 
as God, He was as distant as that idea was. I no 
more walked in fellowship with Jesus Christ than 
the most ignorant coolie of Calcutta. The distinction 
of spiritual and carnal was utterly unknown to my 
moral apprehension. 

" The true knowledge of sin, a sense of its inherent 
loathsomeness, either as it respects God or the con- 
science, wholly unfelt and wholly disregarded. I 
never, I believe, confessed sin from any sense of its 
own pollution. 

" 5. Then of God's infinite mercy, as I trust, and, 
from all that went before, out of the most free love, 



IDEA OF GOD IN YOUTH. 



187 



He was pleased to send converting grace into my 
soul. From that hour all was changed. Jehovah 
assumed to Himself the throne of my soul. To 
adore, love, and serve Him became the ruling passion, 
as well as the most sober conviction, of my heart and 
understanding. My loftiest aspirations, and my most 
common actions, were alike directed unto God. 

" Jesus Christ was the Redeemer of my soul from 
the curse of God's law, and from hell. To adore, 
love, and walk with Him was all my desire, ever 
acting, efficacious — in short, my heaven. 

" The Scriptures came to me as the word of the 
living God, expressing his present will and mind, 
declaring His character and glory. 

" Sin was seen and felt to be the most hideous 
and abominable thing in existence — as against God's 
law, and in its own nature, apart from entailing 
everlasting destruction, if unforgiven. 

" From that time God has been at times indescrib- 
ably near to my soul, dwelling with me, watching over 
and with me, day and night ; in some degree restored 
to His place as my Creator, Preserver, and Governor. 
Friendship, honour, name, happiness, all secondary 
(I mean as to prevailing principle and feeling) to the 
glory of God. And all from beginning to end, wholly 
and altogether, to the praise of his grace, and mercy, 
and love ; nothing but confession and repentance to 
this soul. All glory to God's Spirit ; nothing to 



188 



CORROBORATIONS. 



free-will ! Without Him I must have gone on as I 
did, in blindness, and darkness, and sin. I was 
arrived at the strength of my youth, and fairly entered 
on the business of life, without any trace of God 
upon my spirit. Therefore, all is of God, to whom, 
with Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be 
all the honour and glory, now and evermore. Amen ! '* 

" Manifold Corroborations, tending to strengthen and 
defend this Belief in the Being of God, 

" 1. The power of His truth on myself His truth 
given in the Scriptures is worthy of Him whose 
book it bears to be ; both in illuminating the heart 
and understanding, and changing the dispositions ; 
in supplying motives which overcame many sins at 
once, and mortified all known transgression ; by the 
divine joys which it brought, far exceeding any earthly 
bliss previously or since experienced. In short, the 
Internal Evidence from the revelation of God. 

" 2. Power of God's truth on others — either con- 
verting or powerfully influencing them, much in the 
way, I suppose, as miracles of old confirmed the faith 
of believers. 

"3. The external evidence of the revelation of 
God, as having come really from Him. There could 
be no mistake in regard to the witnesses of that 
truth. Paley's Evidences, and the thoughts suggested 
by them, contributed much to this. Lardner still 



CORROBORATIONS. 



189 



more clearly, in supplying the grounds on which 
Paley rests. 

"4. Argument from design, as affording a strong 
corroboration of the existence of a Supreme Intelli- 
gence ; and generally the proof of the natural govern- 
ment of the Deity. 

" 5. Moral government of a Supreme Ruler, as 
set forth by that incomparable reasoner, Butler. 
This, by what means I hardly know, affected my 
understanding more than the previous head, at least 
in the way of its being most annihilating to all 
objections. Leland's Deistical Writers finished this 
line of things. The fairness of both Lardner and 
Leland peculiarly tended to conviction. 

" 6. Philosophy: the results of high natural science, 
as given by Newton and the Calculus ; these so 
universal laws corresponding with the idea of a su- 
preme mind ; the Baconian Philosophy, also ; its 
method and splendid results, the style of its author's 
thinking, and the intellectual trains of analogy sug- 
gested, have all tended to the same ideas of the Deity 
previously formed. The principle of all philosophy, 
causation, tended much to the like result. That dis- 
position to rise from cause to cause insatiably, until 
the First Great Cause stands out in all the glory of 
His power and perfections. 

* 7. The scenes of nature do in a very immediate 
way testify of God, They directly symbolise the 



190 



CORROBORATIONS. 



Supreme to my spirit — I mean, those of high gran- 
deur and beauty ; also of absolute loneliness — Mont 
Blanc, the sea-shore where wild, as in Skye. 

" 8. Poetry has contributed much by its idealiza- 
tion of the external world ; by the vision of things 
which rise before it, in which the Great Spirit fre- 
quently and rightfully blends. The poets, both as 
intensely alive to nature's beauties, and as in some 
sort interpreters of her charms and glories, have been 
an exceeding boon to me/' 

I cannot ascertain what year the above interesting 
review of his mental processes was written ; but its 
mention of Mont Blanc and Skye towards the close 
indicates that it was when his studies were consider- 
ably advanced. It was noticed by his companions 
that his mind opened out largely in its intellectual 
development as he advanced in years. 

We may appropriately subjoin to the above the 
following specimens of self-examination, which will 
show us how microscopically he often studied his 
own heart, even as at other times he closely searched 
into the word of God. The pieces are all fragmentary. 



LOVE TO GOD — SELF- EXAMINATION. 191 



SPECIMENS OF SELF-EXAMINATION. 

"Love to God. (20th July 1845.) 

Exod. xx. 3, " Thou shalt have no other god before me f and 
Matt. xxii. 17, " Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord 

thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 

mind." 

" Nothing whatever in earth or heaven ought to 
usurp the place of God in respect of the adoration and 
worship which are due to Him, and to Him only. 
Nothing under heaven ought to hold the place which 
God demands for Himself in the heart of a man. 

" And has nothing held His place in my heart ? 
My reason tells me that there must have been ; my 
conscience tells me that it has permitted friendship 
to go too far. And yet the truth is, that I do not feel 
that I have been setting up idols against the living 
God. I must write according to my present feelings, 
and God grant that it may not long be with me 
according to this melancholy experience. I know that 
the world must have usurped the place of God, and 
yet I do not feel that it has. The more advanced 
Christians are, the more they feel that the world is 
one of their worst enemies ; and yet here am I, not 
feeling that it is an enemy ! It shews that I must 
be wholly ignorant of my own heart and of the snares 
of the devil. Here I am with a heart like the very 
flint 1 I feel how humble I ought to be. I feel that 



192 



LOVE TO GOD 



» — SELF-EXAMINATION. 



God would be just to condemn me even now because 
of this unfeeling heart. O how terrible must be the 
state of my heart in this respect, that I stand up and 
say practically, that I have kept the commandment, 
that I have done what no descendant of Adam ever 
has done, or can do. God be blessed that I trust 
that I know it to be one of the most wretched states 
that a sinner can be in, knowing that he has broken 
the holy law of God, ' Thou shalt have no other God 
before me/ and yet that he does not feel it. Oh if 
any sight should teach humility, should it not be this ? 

" But again (praying that God the Spirit would 
enlighten my blind eyes), I would consider the other 
point, What is it to have the true God before me ? 
No other must occupy His place. But how is He 
the God of His people? Is He contented with the 
bowing of the knee to Him, morning, noon, and night? 
with a gift now and then laid upon His altar ? We 
have the answer in what Jesus said to the lawyer, 
e Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind/ The 
exposition Jesus gives of the commandment shews 
that it extends to the inmost thoughts. 

" God is not satisfied with any kind of worship, 
but demands, in searching and succinct language, a 
particular kind of regard and worship, namely, to be 
loved by man with all his heart, with all his soul, and 
with all his mind. First, with ' all my heart/ Per- 



SELF-EXAMINATION — LOVE TO GOD. 193 



haps the best way to try this may be, Have you never 
loved an earthly object with all your heart ? Perhaps 
you know what it is to be away from home, and to 
have a heart-sickness to be there ? You know what 
it is to long to meet a friend, to feel that it is the 
nearest wish of your heart to be near [that friend. 
You know what it is to feel that you would be ready 
to go through fire and water to save the life of a 
friend. And have you loved your God thus ? ' with 
all thy heart V To this I have to answer, that I 
know I have not ; and I feel it too, and (the Lord 
be praised) I do desire to mourn over it. I feel that 
I have thus utterly failed in keeping the command 
of Him who is my Maker and my God. And re- 
member what are the consequences of not obeying. 
They do not end when you say, that you feel that you 
have not obeyed. Nay, for the awful consequence is, 
I am under God's awful curse because of this ! Oh 
let me think what this means ! Subject to the wrath 
of an offended Jehovah ! deserving (while the pen is 
in my hand, while I write the words) the eternal 
curse of God. O my soul, wilt thou not turn now in 
deep contrition to the Lord on account of sin which 
calls for vengeance ? Ah, thou canst not run from 
the fearful doom of hell ! It clings to thee. Thou 
canst never of thyself shake it off. God hath spoken 
the word, and He is not a man that He should lie. 
« And if convinced of the first part, scarcely need we 

N 



194 SELF-EXAMINATION — LOVE TO GOD. 



speak of the two others. The heart is what would 
seem to be more easily affected than ' the soul and 
the mind, 3 For the instances of God's kindness 
to me are so numerous and so apparent, that my 
heart should be ever drawn forth in love to such 
a God. God clothes me : that should make me 
grateful ; God has every day supplied me with 
food to support my body: for this I should praise 
Him. The Bible — permission to pray to Him — an 
earthly father and mother — a friend, — all these, and 
how many things besides, should call forth love to 
God, and make me love Him with all my heart. 
But how seldom do I think of these things. For 
this, O Lord, I am condemned to my face ! Give 
me, for Jesus's sake, more lasting and deep impres- 
sions of my sin ! 

" ' With all thy soul. 3 The soul of man is the 
highest, or the nearest to divine, of his whole nature. 
It seems chiefly to be the soul of man that is exer- 
cised in prayer. The soul of believers is often rapt 
in the contemplation of divine things. It is his soul, 
acted on by the grace of God, which discovers the 
beauty of holiness, and delights to dwell upon what, 
to his eye, is so lovely. This cannot be said to be the 
work of the heart; nor do I think it can be confined 
to the province of the mind. Thus, I think that 
' to love the Lord with all my soul 3 means that 
kind of love which arises from the contemplation of 



SINS OF COMMISSION. 



195 



God's holy character. Seeing the love which is im- 
printed upon all God's dealings with the sons of men, 
he is carried up from them to the wondrous First 
Cause, and thus his love goes forth to Him as the 
grand cause of all these. And this should be (ac- 
cording to God's own words) not a half-felt love, not 
a dreamy kind of contemplative love, but a love 
6 with all thy soul/ an ardent love to God, different 
from the heart-love. Not that the one is less holy 
than the other, not that the one is less vivid than the 
other ; they must both be holy, they must both be as 
vivid and as honest as the heart and soul are capable 
of ; yet the love of the soul might almost be said to 
occupy a higher place. It is derived from what is 
more abstract, more refined, and, in one sense, may 
be said to be more pure. 

" Have / this love of 'the soul V Have I loved 
God in this manner ? Have I adored Him because 
of His infinite perfections ? 

" Sins of Commission. 
" Some of these are — 

"Pride; vanity displayed generally more in con- 
nection with the body than the mind. Would you 
take all these pains about your looks if every person 
were blind? Envy; dwelling on people's faults 
rather than vices. Censor iousness. Levity and 
slander. Lying ; not the naked truth. Cheating ; 



196 



SJNS OF OMMISSION. 



not observing the Golden Rule. Hypocrisy ; pray- 
ing against sins which you don't mean to leave off. 
Robbing God ; of time. Bad temper. Hindering 
others from being useful ; and thus being Satan's 
instrument. 

" Sins of Study. — First, mere acquisition of know- 
ledge without reference to God or the ministry ; 
second, for honour from man ; third, mere bookish 
voracity : devouring without digesting ; generally, 
want of the spirit of prayer, yea, of the Holy Spirit 
himself. Christless study is profitless study — 6 to the 
pure all things are pure/ p 

" Sins of Omission — Ingratitude. 

Psa. xxvi, 1, 2.— "Judge me, O God," &c. Psa. ciii. 2, 3. 

" 1. The first and greatest gift which should excite 
an ardent gratitude to God, must be the Unspeak- 
able Gift of Jesus Christ. O my soul, I would seek 
to examine thee strictly. How often hast thou hastily 
thanked my dear, my kind, loving Father for this 
highest and most perfect gift which He has ever in 
His almighty power to bestow upon a creature born 
in sin? Eighteen months ago, when first made a 
partaker of it, I believe it was often the subject of 
deep and joyous thanksgiving. I felt that it came 
from God, and I thanked God. But, alas ! for many 
a month the subject has been strange to me. I have 



INGRATITUDE. 



3 97 



been so engrossed by other parts of my state, that 
this has been almost wholly neglected. And yet M. 
warned me of it some time ago. Indeed, I am forced 
to admit that I have thanked God as little for this 
lately, as I did before I was called from sin to serve 
the living God ! And more ; I do not think that I 
even felt or acknowledged that I owed much to God 
on this account. It seemed rather as if I had cause 
to think that God was neglecting me, because he did 
not shew me more of my own sinfulness. 

" And now, O my soul, I will be faithful to thee, 
and tell thee that discontent seals up the channel of 
thankfulness toward God. And is it matter of sur- 
prise that, in consequence, thou shouldst have been 
so dry and parched ? On the contrary, would it not 
have been cause of surprise had it been otherwise 
with thy state ? If God had blessed thee while filled 
with unthankfiilness, assuredly it would have been 
to thine own great harm. God abhors the thankless: 
therefore, in this thou hast most certainly offended 
thy Lord grievously. 

" 2. Have I been grateful to God for counting me 
worthy, putting me in the way of serving Him in the 
ministry ? for taking me from all the temptations of 
a merchant? for supplying me with the means of 
accomplishing the end in view of being a minister of 
the gospel ? This has, perhaps, been oftener before 
my mind than the last ; but yet, for some time, I 



198 



INGRATITUDE. 



fear, it has been little, little in my thoughts. But 
when I see what is almost universally the case, that 
much attention to the one object of making money 
does interfere in some way or other with spiritual 
welfare, whether by its being the interest of the ser- 
vant to give so much regard to his earthly master, 
that he runs a great hazard of offending conscience — 
whether by the common ways of trade — whether 
directly or indirectly — none can gainsay the state- 
ment that money is the root of all kinds of evil, and 
that the being very much wrapped up in acquiring 
it must bring upon the votaries of it, a,t the least, 
many severe temptations. O my soul, hast thou 
thanked the Lord for this ? Alas ! no. Thou hast been 
so engrossed with selfish present concerns, that past 
causes for thankfulness have been strangely laid aside. 
Thou who hast professed to be one of the Lord's 
people, is this thy state ? In respect to these reasons 
for gratitude, how hast thou differed from one yet in 
his sins ? 

" 3. Another cause for continual thanksgiving I 
should find in the gift of the Bible. Whenever I 
take it up, I ought to remember how privileged I am 
in being born in a land where the Bible is recognised 
as a divine book ; besides, how many have never 
seen it at all ? And then, of those who have it, how 
many are practically taught that it is not God's 
word, by the flagrant violations of it by the very 



INGRATITUDE. 



199 



persons who hold it up in theory as the fountain of 
truth. 

" I have studied the Bible more than I used to do; 
but have I thanked the Lord for it? An implied 
thankfulness, a kind of taking-as-for-granted thankful- 
ness, which some seem to think enough ; an under- 
stood though unexpressed gratitude is a mere no- 
thing, at best an empty speculation, though very 
characteristic of the natural man. Hast thou, my 
soul, been thanking the Lord for His book ? the book 
of books? Again have I to make the melancholy 
confession that the time has just slipped away without 
my even thinking of thanking God for His great 
mercy. O to be humbled on account of this like- 
wise ! 

" 4. Hast thou, my soul, been thankful for a pious 
sister ? for a faithful ministry in Mr Miller, Mr Milne, 
and Mr Somerville, and for the preaching of Mr 
Burns ? Have I been grateful for a Christian friend ? 
for many external advantages ? for good health and 
sound judgment, however plain and homely? for 
perseverance?" 



We should have liked to have given in full u An 
Essay on the Ideal : its Source and End ; " but it 
is more suitable perhaps for our purpose to satisfy 
ourselves with an outline of the essay, as given in a 



200 



ESSAY ON THE IDEAL. 



letter to his brother, together with the closing para- 
graphs. It was written, not as the former extract, 
in the earlier, but in the latter days of his study and 
ministry. 

" I wrote an essay for our Society, the other day, 
on The Beautiful, especially that of nature. I cannot 
say how sadly pleasant it was to meditate on the 
subject before writing. 

"It was an attempt to say a thing or two, as 
C. used to say, on the Ideal — as to the process by 
which a student of the Beautiful might pursue 
that study so strangely attractive to the poor heart 
of man. 

" He must wander, <3. g., through the distinctly 
apprehended forms of floral loveliness (as given among 
the flowers of earth) ; and allowing all these fragrant 
beauties of exquisite form and colour to be depicted 
through the sense upon his heart and sesthetic 
faculty, there would gradually arise upon his soul 
a truly-founded beginning of the Ideal of floral 
loyeliness. 

" So with all other beauteous things in the various 
departments of nature. Each contributes fair and 
perfect specimens of the various forms of Beauty. 

" Then the poets, painters, and sculptors, are in- 
terpreters of the beauty of nature, and delineators 
of what they have seen and heard, as they have 
gazed upon her fair face ; for they tell us of some- 



ESSAY ON THE IDEAL. 



201 



thing purer, richer, lovelier, which rose as a mystic 
dream of transcendent beauty, from what they be- 
held, and which in their works they give as a vision 
of the Ideal. (Kaphael's figure of the cherub in the 
room of the Transfiguration, and Spenser's poetry, 
might be given as specimens. ) 

" The latter part of the paper was an attempt to 
feel after whither all this conducts the mind, under 
the heading, Reality of the Ideal. 

" There is, I know, much that is inexplicable about 
the power of beauty, and the feelings to which it 
gives rise ; but two things are secured to our spirits 
as they restlessly search for the home of the Ideal — 
as fruitlessly they long after the revelation of that 
beauty, love, and tenderness which all lovely things 
seem to tell of. Some whisper it, some sing of it ; 
it breathes from some ; from some it rises as pure 
incense. 

" First. Beauty tells of a Lovely Creating Being, 
as inevitably as design does of a Designing Mind. It 
comes from Him, it rests upon His works revealing 
Him, and does it not surely ascend back to Him ? 
Press it one never would — nay, leave all earthly 
beauties and their fairest earthly counterparts, hang- 
ing all around the Beautiful in nature ; but may we 
not fairly add to the source of all this deep power, 
the apparent revelation which is there of the Divine 
Beauty of that Being who made every form of that 



202 



ESSAY ON THE IDEAL. 



Beauty, and apportioned all the parts of those ex- 
quisite colours which adorn it. 

" iEsthetically, then, and apart altogether from 
Natural Theology, we may not exclude the Beauty 
of the Divine Being from the Ideal, which so strangely 
rises from and floats above and around all lovely 
things. The skirts of the garment of His infinite 
Beauty rests upon these summits of created excel- 
lence. 

" Second. In these tendencies, these emotions of 
our nature, we have an aesthetic prophecy that, in 
the fulness of time (sin being removed), there is not 
one fair image of perfect loveliness, no dream of the 
true poet (over which you have been ready to weep 
when you awoke, and behold it was a dream !), 
but shall be fully realised — beheld and embraced, 
lived in. 

"The subject is not one to speak dogmatically 
upon ; but when it seemed to break upon me that 
the above was a pure aesthetic result, as well as a 
theological or ratiocinative truth, it produced a simi- 
lar effect of joy to that I remember feeling on seeing 
Butler's 1 Argument for a Moral Government of 
God/ established on purely natural grounds; it was 
as if nature and the Bible truth were married into 
one. 

The essay itself (as we have said) is too long for 
insertion in full. But we may, in some degree, e ti- 



ESSAY OX THE IDEAL, 



203 



mate the taste, and feeling, and spiritual aspiration 
that breathe in it throughout by the following ex- 
tracts — the one an illustration, the other the closing 
paragraphs of the essay : — 

"The Sublime and Beautiful in combination form 
perhaps the most powerful effect in nature. The 
first of these is readily associated with the Divine 
Being ; why not the other ? It was once my lot to 
be wandering through a Swiss valley on a pilgrimage 
to her famed mountain. The path lay a little above 
the course of a pure hill-stream. The vine, twining 
amid trees of a loftier growth, clothed the sides of 
the sequestered vale. The verdure was of a softened, 
richest green ; all was bright, and calm, and beauti- 
ful. Winding thus through the quiet depths, I hap- 
pened once to raise my eyes, when one of those 
visions met them which are ineffaceable. Away 
through the vista of that lovely valley, so clothed in 
brightness and soft beauty, towered the sublime form 
of Mont Blanc. The sudden appearance of that 
majesty — all robed to the summit in the spotless 
purity of the driven snow, and resting in the bril- 
liantly-contrasted deep blue heavens beyond — with all 
this beauty stretched at his feet, fell on the spirit 
with almost too much power, ready as if to overwhelm 
it ; when, swift as a ray of sunlight, the thought 
came — 1 There is one who made that mountain 
monarch, who clothed him in these snow-white robes. 



204 



ESSAY ON THE IDEAL. 



He built the azure firmament above him, and it was 
He who fashioned this tender loveliness spread at his 
feet V There was instant reassurance. And is the 
result not then inevitable ? Beauty, alike with ma- 
jesty and glory, in the works of creation, proclaims 
the Deity ; that is, these works declare alike His 
majesty, His glory, and His beauty ! 

" And now, in conclusion, let us glance at the 
second part of the answer as to the reality of the 
Ideal, viz., the anticipation or aesthetic prophecy of 
its realisation found in the feelings, the emotions, the 
tendencies towards it of which we are conscious. 

" There is no distinctly proved tendency of our 
nature but will meet with its fulfilment, the hin- 
drances by error or sin being removed. This rests, 
we believe, on the wisdom and goodness of the 
Creator. He has made nothing in vain. As He has 
constructed no faculties, so he has called forth no 
feelings, nor implanted aspirations or longings, only 
to disappoint them of their legitimate ends. Our 
nature, as it came from His hands, was perfect as well 
as pure ; every native or essential object of desire 
was either then bestowed or made attainable by the 
means of His appointment. Sin has come in and 
dashed all these fair hopes, as to man attaining the 
fulfilment of his desires or aspirations by merit, or 
unassisted by heavenly grace. But the divine Mercy 
hath devised a plan for the restoration of man to at 



ESSAY OX THE IDEAL, 



205 



least an equal elevation, in all respects, with the 
position from which he fell. Hence we reason that 
every genuine longing of his nature (which cannot in 
itself be shewn to be sinful), shall be abundantly 
satisfied. And this establishes for us a glorious 
reality to those thirstings after all that is good, true, 
or beautiful. Many of the poets have erred from the 
right way, both as to the truths of the revelation of 
the will of the Supreme, and as to the true principles 
of their own art ; for swerving from purity or recti- 
tude, they swerve from ' the good' and 'the true/ and 
therefore sin, so to speak, against the very Ideal they 
would extol, which is as perfect in Purity and Truth 
as in Love and Beauty. But these errors apart, there 
is not a fair dream of bliss, a region of purity, a land 
of entrancing beauty, love, and joy, depicted or sung 
by the poets, but shall be realise^ In God's ap- 
pointed way (now that sin'has entered) they must be 
sought; but found they shall be. Is this world so 
fair ? does it breathe in nature still so much of joy 
and heavenly beauty, while the curse of its Creator 
is known to rest upon it ? What shall w^e judge of 
the New Heavens and New Earth, which shall spring 
forth, when all the taint of sin has been removed, it 
may be by that baptism of fire which awaits it ? 
What eye hath seen, what ear hath heard, what 
heart conceived, the scene which shall then open on 
he gaze of the redeemed ? How 7 shall the present 



206 



man's extremity. 



highest conceptions dwindle into nothingness, before 
the effulgent realities of that hour. And as the sin- 
purged spirits of men, clothed in spiritual and im- 
mortal frames, rise through the bright worlds above, 
shall they not hear a music far surpassing that of the 
spheres fabled by the ancient poets ; and at length 
they shall set foot in that region of pure ecstatic bliss, 
where beauty most perfect and eternal reigns through- 
out all that is beheld or exists ; where is the sole 
Fountain of all beauty, love, and tenderness, where 
is the last home of the Ideal, and where those glori- 
fied spirits shall dwell for ever with the infinitely 
Lovely One." 



We may vary our collection of Fragments by ex- 
tracts, some of them jotted down among his papers, 
others taken from Letters to Friends, written on the 
spur of the occasion. We begin with a remark on a 
well-known saying. 

" ' Man's extremity is God's opportunity? — When 
we have been taught how weak and helpless we are, 
then probably is the Lord near. At least, this seems 
to be the way which the Lord takes in his dealings 
with man. In this may be seen the knowledge 
which God has of the human constitution ; for, per- 
haps, at no time is a man more ready to listen to the 
suggestions of a friend than when, baffled in his en- 



APPRECIATION OF GOD'S WORKS — LIFE OF FAITH. 207 

deavours to accomplish some end, he sinks down 
dispirited and comfortless. He then must see the 
necessity for some higher power being exerted in his 
behalf, and is ready to take the way which his con- 
science before pointed out, though he did not then 
listen to its voice, the way of God's appointment/' 

The remark that follows on our appreciation of the 
works of God is no less just. 

" I was just thinking again to-day, how dependent 
our appreciation of GocVs works is upon the state of 
our mind. I find that I have scarcely any pleasure, 
or at least any joy, in them unless my soul is at peace 
with their great and glorious Creator. They seem 
at times to be so insipid and dumb to me, that any- 
thing almost gives me greater pleasure than they : 
while at other times, each flower, each leaf, the sky, 
the sun, all tell the glory of God/' 

Here is an important truth in regard to the Life 
of Faith. 

" For myself, I feel that seven times a day I am 
ready to forget that it is a fight of faith, and begin 
to turn again to the carnal way of life ; as if the path 
of God's Elect could ever become a natural way to 
the old man within us. We are ready to ask con- 
tinually, £ What ! must we take another and again 
another step of faith and patience ? And this recur- 
ring all the day/ No wonder that the stony-ground 
hearers weary of such a way of it. But shall we be 



208 THIRSTING FOR THE REALISING OF PERFECTION. 

found complaining of it, when it is the very road, 
every foot of it, by which the man Christ Jesus went 
to glory Is it not all marked with the drops of the 
blood of the pierced One ? When disposed, then, to 
complain of the length and trials of the journey, only 
look down and see the footprints of the Forerunner, 
and remember why there are marks of the nails 
that pierced his foot, and why his blood sprinkles the 
narrow way/' 

In a letter to Mrs Bannerman, "Wootton Park, 
referring to what had passed in conversation, he 
writes : — 

" The idea you express of that longing after perfec- 
tion in external nature, and encountering in the search 
for it only that which is deformed, or imperfect, or 
deeply blemished, and the consequent pain, is one with 
which my spirit is but too familiar. This, indeed, is 
the first step toward the formation of that further 
idea or ideal of which I spoke in my last. . . . 
As you explained, what you long and thirst for is 
the mere perfection of the designs actually beheld 
around us ; the filling up the vacancy in the petals 
of that otherwise so exquisitely-fashioned flower ; the 
wiping out of the spots in that otherwise so spotless 
lily ; the carrying out of the majestic form of that 
monarch of the woods, together with the entire re- 
moval of the cause of all these blemishes, and imper- 
fections, and blights. Now that I love to dwell upon 



IDEAL PERFECTION. 



209 



what sometimes pours itself upon the wearied spirit 
as the most delicious music, is the thought that these 
flowers, though all so sweet and fragrant, so full of 
grace, of beauty, even of love, only help us to form 
an ideal of loveliness, far surpassing what they could 
be, though ever so perfectly formed, though no blight 
had come on them, and no mildew had eaten of 
their silken bloom. Where I shall find that I feel, 
when it shall burst forth in all its beauty into an 
entrancing reality, I dare not say. But what I de- 
light to dwell on, what feeds these fancy musings is, 
that He who planted in our souls these quenchless 
longings after a higher, richer, more ethereal beauty 
(though they be raised by force of beauty within 
present reach), will not leave them ungratified. Even 
as our bodies shall be changed, and become so much 
more fit for the presence of the King of glory, so may 
the scenes which shall greet our renewed minds and 
purged eyesight, far, far transcend all possible con- 
ception of earthly beauty as now seen. Methinks I 
could never now be satisfied with a scene such as 
Milton pictures Paradise, and I think that would 
comprehend pretty much what you would desire, 
would it not ? No, I love and imagine the flowers, 
if flowers there be, will have the hues of heaven's own 
beauty, they will be fit to grow beside, to kiss the 
streams of that river of the water of life, clear as 
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of 

O 



210 



SATAN — STUDY — MINISTERS. 



the Lamb. So with all other forms of beauty and of 
grace. I fancy they will have a counterpart in glory, 
or somewhere in the regions of glory, which will at 
last satisfy the restless longings after more perfect 
beauty, and far more exquisite grace than can be 
imagined by that is seen and handled/' 

Here are some thoughts on several important sub- 
jects. 

" Satan takes advantage to come back to some old 
temptation which I almost thought I had conquered, 
and then am I carried away. What need have I to 
watch at those parts of the wall which have been 
built up, but which were once a breach, as well as at 
the point which seems most open to the attack of 
these powerful and inveterate enemies/' 

To a fellow-student : — " Oh that we may be en- 
abled to make the growth of our souls in grace the 
first -grand concern of each day, to count a day lost 
unless spent in walking with God. When shall we 
study and live at the feet of Him who was pierced V 9 

"I find that intercourse with believers requires 
equal care as that with unbelievers, equal looking up 
continually to Jesus/' 

Then, speaking of a minister shewing off himself 
in any way : — 

"What should we think of the exhibitor of a 



POURING OUT THE HEART— FORSAKEN. 211 



painting who persisted in intruding his own figure 
between the canvass and the spectators ? Stand 
aside, and let the Master only be seen/' 

" I often feel it my greatest joy to go to Jesus, and 
speak to Him out of the fulness of my heart. And 
this too gives me, I find, more of a spirit of true 
independence of all upon earth, which, the longer I 
live, I see to be the more necessary to the believer." 

t( Let me be ever seeking to advance. My Father 
is divine. His resources are infinite. I have no 
right then to act as if He were only able to dole out 
a certain portion of faith, and of those spiritual bless- 
ings which enable the poor humble-hearted believer 
to set all temptations at defiance, to go into the world 
trusting in reality in God. How difficult is true 
perseverance in prayer. Prayer is never successful 
unless urgent, as if the soul could not bear to wait 
one moment without the answer, and yet is willing 
to wait all the day upon the pleasure of Him who is 
willing to do above all that we can ask or think." 

"I have sometimes felt how bitter, bitter, it is for the 
soul to be forsaken of God. Truly any bodily pain is 
far, far better than that. But what must the holy 
child J esus have felt, He, whose very meat and drink 
. it was to live for the Lord, whose every thought and 



212 



LETTERS. 



word and deed had God for its subject and aim ? 
What must He have felt when, after His Father's 
countenance had been now and again partially hid, 
as the clouds of His infinite wrath against sin began 
to rise up around His holy throne ; all at once these 
thick black clouds, the awful indignation of J ehovah 
against the sins of the whole body of the redeemed, 
of every age, and clime, and people, suddenly closed 
around Jehovah's throne of mercy and love. O then, 
what must have been the state of the Lord of glory, 
the spotless child Jesus, the man Christ J esus, to be 
gazing up as His eyes had learnt to do, as if naturally 
made for that, so often had they been lifted to the 
throne of God's glory, but, alas ! to see nothing but 
wrath and indignation, yea, fierce stirrings of Jehovah's 
wrath, which, like his love, in length, breadth, depth, 
and height, is infinite. O what oceans of holy wrath 
were then poured into the wide soul of the Saviour J 
O what a spectacle, Jesus the Son of God drinking 
the wine of wrath !" 

But let us now give a few Letters in full, written in 
the easy freedom of friendship : — 

Edinburgh, 24^ April 1846. 

" My Dearest Mother — May the name of God be 
praised for the seemingly true work of grace which 
has been begun in Alexander's heart. If God's work, 
it cannot but prosper. It is indeed a great encou- 
ragement to you, my dear mother, in prayer for those 



LETTERS. 



213 



who are still out of J esus. If God has, indeed, brought 
Alexander, so far away from all of us, to a knowledge 
of Jesus, what cause first to raise a song of great joy 
to the praise and glory of His glorious name, and 
then to make this an argument with the Lord, both 
for the bringing in of the other wanderers, and for 
more grace being poured out upon those who profess 
to have believed in Jesus. 

" Have you thought, my own dear mother, of the 
joy which has already sounded through the courts of 
heaven, on account of the bringing back of your son 
to the Great Shepherd, if he be indeed one of the 
flock, and surely we cannot doubt this ? Is it not a 
blessed thought that even the angels have been filled 
with new joy ? Yea, with a joy greater than that 
which they have over the ninety and nine just persons. 

" And then, when we think of the Saviour's joy, O 
how blessed, how solemnising to think that the Lord 
J esus has actually seen, in my dear brother, the travail 
of His soul and is now fully satisfied. Long did he 
live in open rebellion (as he himself expresses it), but 
the loye of God in J esus passeth all understanding. 

" Oh for hearts to praise the Lord for His won- 
drous mercy. 

" But let us pray much for Alexander. The tempter 
will never allow such a vessel of mercy to go on in 
the paths of His God without many an effort to 
entrap him again. His disposition will soon, if not 



214 



LETTERS. 



now, make him feel the cross of being despised by the 
world. But, blessed be the name of Jesus, His 
strength is made perfect in the weakness of His peo- 
ple, and 'none is able to pluck them out of my 
Father's hand.'" 

" Edinburgh, 9th July 1847. 

"My Dear Frederick — Thank you for the account 

you give me of Mr 's present strain of spiritual 

thought. His manner of reading the word of the 
Lord, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, will lead 
him deep into the things of God. And then there is 
one advantage which such reading has above all 
others — that it is mainly concerned about the pure, 
undiluted truth of God. 

" It is there where the giant-moulds of men in 
Christ Jesus are discovered. But these, like the fossil 
remains of the former more powerful inhabitants of 
our world, do not lie strewn upon the surface ; but 
as they are imbedded far down in the bosom of the 
earth, so these are found after many a night and 
day's laborious work of prayer and deep meditation. 

" But this analogy suggests another truth. Just as 
the skilful comparative anatomist, by the discovery 
of a single member of an antediluvian fossil, can 
picture to himself with ease, as well as truthfulness, 
the gigantic figure and proportions of the creature of 
which this is the memorial, so, he that is taught of 
the Spirit of God^ by one trait or mark of the charac- 



LETTERS. 



215 



ter of a man in Christ Jesus, which his deeper in- 
vestigation has discovered, is enabled to picture to 
the eye of faith one of these giant forms ; which 
straightway, led by the Eternal Spirit, he takes with 
him to the throne of grace, and cries to the great 
Creator of such men of God, that he, for the glory of 
God, may be cast into a like mould. 

" But it is easy to describe such perusal of the Scrip- 
tures : ' how to perform, and especially how continu- 
ously to perform, I find not/ Nothing can ever fill the 
place of the patient and prayerful study of the Word. 

a I have lately been seeing how, in so very many 
respects, the man after conversion is the same as he 
was before. He is, indeed, in many of the leading 
features of his character changed — 'a new creature ; 
yet also, in a sense, he is the old creature made new ; 
he is re-born, re-fashioned. The ends of his existence 
are changed, the manner of it changed ; his hopes, 
his fears, all reversed ; the crew, so to speak, is 
changed, the vessel has got a new pilot ; her course 
is no longer irregular, or directed by each veering 
breeze. Christ J esus is the pilot ; heaven, instead of 
hell, the destination. Yet the ship is the same ; and 
if her timbers were well set, her masts tightly rigged, 
and her stores well found before, she is the sooner fit 
for active service, bends the sooner to her master's 
will, and wings a quicker flight through her now 
stormy, dark and narrow seas. ..." 



216 



LETTERS. 



" Westfield, 23d August 1848. 

" My Dearest Mother — You say a blessed truth 
in your, to me, soul-refreshing letter — ( There is none 
like Him! None like the lovely, the glorious, the 
spotless Lord Jesus Christ. And if my seeming 
carelessness but give me another opportunity of com- 
mending the love of the e Altogether Lovely ' One, I 
can glory in this my infirmity ; for my not writing 
sooner, I think I may say has proceeded from the 
infirmity of my spirit. I have felt ever since coming 
to this place much of that ' fear and trembling ' and 
1 weakness ' of which the Apostle speaks, 1 Cor. ii. 3. 
And being, as it were, for the time, set to watch over 
souls here, I have been afraid to give time to many 
other duties, which at other times it would have been 
very wrong to neglect. I have felt also much that 
you were safe in the Lord ; and that if at any future 
time I could tell you of new jewels being gathered 
by our glorious and matchless Lord Jesus, to adorn 
His blood-bought crown, you would not grudge the 
time seemingly taken from yourself. First, I must 
tell you that your letter gave me a blessed errand of 
thanksgiving to our Father's throne, for all His 
mercy and kindness to your soul and body. Thanks 
and praise be unto Him for recovered strength of the 
earthly tabernacle, and for His kindness to us all in 
sparing you yet amongst us, But, above all, praise 
be unto our Covenant God and Father for His free 



LETTERS. 



217 



mercy and grace to your soul, in shewing you more 
of the everlasting and infinite love which flows in 
His bosom towards His afflicted but chosen people in 
Jesus. Blessed be his name for all the -portions' 
which it pleased Him to give you, my dearly beloved 
mother, during your passage through one of the 
valleys of humiliation. 

u But perhaps your soul longs to hear if the goings 
our glorious Captain have been seen amongst us 
since last writing. I trust and believe that they 
have : yet only sufficient to make our souls to 
thirst after the latter rain, for as yet our eyes have 
but seen drops of the former rain moderately. 
Crying for the guidance and blessing of Him who 
is promised to be always (for Immanuel's sake) 
with the children, the Great Comforter of a Church 
mourning the absence of her Lord, I desire to tell of 
Christ. I often ask and marvel why the Lord should 
have given me a mother in Christ While thousands 
and thousands of other men in the land have had 
godless mothers, and lived and died as they did — yet 
the Lord, of His unsearchable electing love, has or- 
dained it otherwise with me, Not to thee, my own 
dear mother, but to the Lord, the Lord God, be all 
the praise and glory. The Lord has been gracious 
in sending you a fellow-pilgrim to stay under the 
same roof under which the Lord has put you. The 
meetings of the children of the kingdom have some- 



218 



LETTEKS. 



times reminded me of travellers in the desert, whose 
paths have happened to cross. They look upon one 
another— recognise, however obscure, the blessed 
family likeness, even the image of glorious Christ ; 
each hears the other pronounce, however stammer- 
ingly, that name which is above every name, for each 
has been taught of God the family language, and 
they are one ! The elder, then (it may be), raises up 
the pilgrim-^wi, and they rest under it together for 
a night. But they have not long been here when a 
voice, well known and better loved than that of man 
or angel, whispers, with sweet, persuasive gentleness, 
' Ah, this is not thy rest V — when they arise, strike 
the tent, and separate to their different paths, sing- 
ing as they go, ' Heaven is our home — heaven is our 
home V What a marvellous saying is that, 'To me 
to live is Christ/ When the Lord gives you access to 
His glorious throne, O pray, my dear mother, that I 
may know, in all its depth and extent, that saying, 
to the glory of God the Father, and for that end 
alone. In heaven we cannot glorify God in the same 
way that we can do here, O then to live as those 
who may so shortly be summoned on high ! In 
heaven, though under grace — yea, under Jehovah's 
grace — we shall be asked, not ' What hast thou felt 
for Christ?' nor even 'How much hast thou loved 
Christ?' but 'What hast thou done for Christ \ 9 or 
< What hast thou suffered for Christ V" 



LETTERS. 



219 



To a fellow-student, now Rev. William Hunter, 
Chester. 

" Edinburgh, 9th August 1850. 

a I cannot say how much I feel the thought 

of your being so near the ministry of the Lord Jesus, 
one with whom I have so often taken counsel, and so 
frequently called on the name of the Lord, to think 
that you will soon be an ambassador of Christ, lifting 
up your voice in the great congregation, beseeching of 
men to be reconciled to God. We have been toge- 
ther at a most important stage of our preparation, 
learning, as it were, the use of our weapons in the 
same school, taught how to wield (as far as man 
could teach us) that sword which is two-edged ; but 
now you are about to be summoned forth to the field. 
Your name is about to be called by the Great Cap- 
tain, and you must follow Him, to fight these battles 
which are ever continuing in that war which is ever 
raging between Christ and Satan. And, of His love 
and grace, you have got a time of quiet in view of the 
work. As a brother in Christ and friend, how do I 
desire and pray that the Lord our God would indeed 
draw near to your soul at this time, to give you much 
of His Holy Spirit, open up much of the evil in your 
own heart, that sin may indeed appear exceeding 
sinful, but above all give you, my beloved brother, 
fresh and soul-ravishing views of the glorious Lord 



220 



LETTERS 



Jesus Christ. Doubtless, it is in the chamber that 
the Lord our God reveals His glory. It was there 
that He prepared the prophets of old, in their closets 
when the doors were shut ; and, in modern times, the 
Whitefields were chiefly prepared in secret, and then 
did they declare on the housetops what God had done 
for their souls. 

" Ah ! ought we to be satisfied with anything short 
of the New Testament description of the ministers of 
the Lord J esus — ' Men full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost 1 ? ' How apt are we to set such aside as belong- 
ing only to apostolic times ; but this is clearly un- 
warrantable. See that beloved man, Thomas Spencer 
of Liverpool ; was not he of such a mould, through 
the rich grace of God ? But I believe we are quite 
agreed as to such qualifications being still granted, 
but the all-important concern is — how is it actually 
to be obtained ? Is it not in Jesus Christ that this 
and all other spiritual blessings are found ? Eut as 
it is a special blessing, so it needs a special beseech- 
ing of our heavenly Father that He would do it for 
us. Ah, yes ! it is at the throne of grace that we 
must receive this anointing of the blessed Spirit for 
this great work. And shall we not, my beloved bro- 
ther, seek for this : e Ask and it shall be given you/ 
And as your time is drawing near, shall we not unite 
together in crying for this, as well as Reginald. It 
is the glory of Christ, and not our own, that we 



LETTERS. 



221 



would seek, and this is ever infinitely dear to the 
God and Father of all. Do write soon, and tell me 
what you think and feel But I find I must close. 
England is ever near my heart, and though I do not 
at present think of any particular field, I am thank- 
ful for your warm appeal. Wherever we may labour, 
I trust we shall be enabled to strengthen one another's 
hands by the grace of God. Kindest remembrances 
in Christ to Reginald, and right glad I am to hear of 
his zeal and love for souls, and with the same to your 
kind mother and sister when you write. Your most 
affectionate friend and brother in Christ, 

" P. Saxdeman." 

Geneva, llth Nov. 1850, 

■ My Dear Mother — By the kindness of Him 
who guideth all things, I have been brought to this 
ancient seat of the Reformation, and as soon as I 
could find a little leisure I gladly devote it to writ- 
ing to you, my beloved mother. It was rather a long 
journey from Cannes to this. From Monday to 
Saturday last, almost constant travelling, two nights, 
and another from one o'clock A.M., were spent in the 
diligence. Some parts of the scenery were very fine. 
The road, as you may know, passes through the com- 
mencement of the Alps. At one point there is a 
magnificent amphitheatre of mountains, and as they 
were lighted up by the setting sun, when we passed 



222 



LETTERS. 



the effect was very striking. This was not diminished 
by their grey tops here and there being streaked with 
snow. 

"12th. — Dr Malan I saw on Saturday. Almost 
immediately, as his custom is, he asked me what was 
my hope for eternity ; and whether I really knew 
that I was a child of God. I answered him perhaps 
more cautiously than I would have done in former 
days, and he told me that I had too much of the sub- 
jective. I had not, he feared, that simple assurance 
of faith that is required, ' Whosoever believeth that 
Jesus is the Christ is born of God/ So, he said, if 
you have believed that Jesus is the Christ you are 
born of God, for you may know assuredly that it is 
God who has enabled you to believe. The instant 
that a man believes that Jesus is the Christ, then is 
he born of God. And knowing this, he knows that 
he is a child of God, and should immediately re- 
joice in God as his heavenly Father. I was thank- 
ful for all that he said, an d though I could not but 
feel what a small thing it was to be judged of man, 
and that, when the soul can say to Immanuel, c Lord, 
Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love 
Thee/ it cannot be much moved by the voice of man. 
Yet I was grateful to the Lord for the question being 
so directly put to me, and I admired the faithfulness 
of this honoured servant of Jesus. It was singular 
that his manner so put me constantly in mind of my 



LETTERS. 



223 



beloved father. Afterwards he asked me to pray, and 
he also did so. I have a kind invitation to go to-night 
to take tea with him. but am sorry that a previous 
engagement will prevent me. 

" Dr Gfaussen you would delight in. He is a man 
that loves souls. He had heard lately, I think, from 
a Chinese missionary, of William Burns, and the tears 
were in his eyes as he spoke of him, and asked me a 
good deal about him. He says that there is good 
doing among the young, especially in Geneva, and 
that there are conversions. 

a D'Aubigne I have also seen, but not in private 
as yet. The Christians here are more separate from 
the world than in Scotland, and God seems to bless 
that. I am living at a 'Pension/ where there are a 
o;ood many of the students of the Evangelical Church. 
Two or three also from the Waldenses, who seem to 
be true men, though I have not had much close con- 
versation with them. One of these is going to preach 
the gospel in Italy, where the door is more open to 
them among the Catholics, than to other Protestants. 

" I leave this (D. Y.) on Saturday for Lausanne, 
where I stay for a day or two, then to Bale, and from 
that to Strasbourg, and down the Rhine. I hope to 
be in London by about the 25th, to which you might 
kindly address me a letter (uncle Hugh's care). 

' A, and I had some pleasant time together at 
Cmnes, where I trust we knew something of the fel- 



224 



LETTERS. 



lowship there is in Christ Jesus. How mercifully the 
Lord has dealt with him and with us all in sparing 
him in health and in life, while so many of those 
around him in India have been cut off. With kind 
love and remembrances to all at Springland, not for- 
getting Peggy and Janet, 

" Your ever affectionate Son/' 

" Genlva, 15th November 1850. 

"My Deak F. — Here I am at the ancient seat 
and centre of the Foreign Churches. Leaving Paris, 
with all its gaiety and beauty; its inhabitants 
bent on pleasure, politics, and vain-glory ; its awful 
Sabbath desecration ; and the whole people seeming 
by their life to say, with mingled taunts and effront- 
ery, ' There is no God ! ' — leaving that city, the 
scene of so many revolutions and massacres, the fruit 
of these ways of iniquity, we passed first to Fontaine- 
bleau, where Napoleon abdicated ; and then, by rail- 
way, diligence, and steam, to Lyons. A and I 

went by diligence, a tedious conveyance compared to 
our old mail-coach, but comfortable enough. An early 
start, stop for dejeuner a la fourchette at eleven or 
twelve, and off again with the lumbering, lurching 
motion, and the bells on the horses' heads with their 
incessant jingle ; every now and then the guttural 
cry of the driver as he encourages his tardy steeds. 
Table d'hote at seven, with its endless succession of 



LETTERS. 



225 



dishes and grapes, figs, chestnuts, &c, fresh from the 
trees. The French character comes out at table ; 
they laugh, talk, and eat with great vivacity and 
rapidity, and yet lightly after alL The instant dinner 
is over every one rises, and the gentlemen adjourn to 
a cafe, where they take a single cup of coffee. We 
went down the Rhone to Avignon, the seat of the 
Popedom's seventy years' captivity ! The river scenery 
was at some points very fine. It is a noble stream, 
shooting down its broad and rapid waters between 
two ranges of hills, clad to the top with vines. 

" At Nismes there is a Eoman amphitheatre iti 
remarkable preservation — a magnificent monument 
of what that people were. We stood where the Em- 
peror used to be to see the fights, and saw where the 
signal was dropped to save the life of any unfortunate 
gladiator. A sort of temple, the Maison Carrie is 
also exactly as the Romans left it ; also the old baths. 
We met our friends at Marseilles, and went on to 
Cannes. The country on that coast assumes a new 
aspect. You seem to have been transported to Pales- 
tine ; the air is soft and mild as in June with us. 
To read for hours (in November) in the open air, 
sitting on the sea-shore, or among the vines, olives, 
fig-trees, pomegranates, and orange-trees of the hills, 
was my delightful occupation. The magnificent blue 
expanse of the Mediterranean lies stretching away 
before you, reflecting back a brilliant sky which poor 



226 



LETTERS. 



Scotland never knows, or only for two or three brief 
weeks at her summer solstice. 

" I arrived in Geneva last Saturday, and saw Dr 
Malan the same day. He was most faithful to me ; 
warning me that it was not enough to be a student 
of theology, and that people might talk a great deaJ 
about religion, without its being in the heart ; and 
then asked what ground I had to hope that I was a 
child of God. He is a faithful minister of Jesus 
Christ ; a grave and venerable-looking man, one who 
is full of love for Jesus and for immortal souls. 
Gaussen I have also seen and heard lecture ; he also 
is a true-hearted man, living much in the realities 
of divine things. The question of inspiration natu- 
rally engages a good deal the attention of professors 
and students, after the affair of Scherer's dismissal 
from the Professorship. Their lectures are full on 
the subject of the canon. If Dr Cunningham's lec- 
tures were published, they would be very serviceable. 
I have also seen and heard D'Aubignd His infor- 
mation, his true religion, his fearless declaration of 
the truth of God, and his pictorial faculty, none can 
deny. 

" Everywhere I find that Christ alone is sufficient 
for me. What is country, climate, or man, unless we 
find Him in them or through them ? 

" Your ever affectionate Brother, 
" David Sandeman." 



LETTERS. 



227 



To Mrs Miller, Islay, he writes : — 

" Edinburgh, 2d February 1850. 

" My Dear Mrs Miller — Your letter was made, 
I trust, a means of blessing to my soul, and the truths 
it contained dwelt with me for many days. Truly, 
that prayer which comes from God by His own eter- 
nal Spirit is that alone which prevails with Him who 
sitteth between the cherubims : ' That which is born 
of the flesh/ whether prayers or praises, ' is flesh/ I 
have found this to the spiritual cost of my soul. 
may the divine Spirit, for Immanuel's sake, be given 
you and others who love Zion, to continue and in- 
crease in pleading with the great Lord of the har- 
vest that he would raise up and qualify, and in due 
time thrust forth, true labourers into His vineyard. 

my dear friend in Christ, as you are enabled of 
God, ask for me that I may know of a truth some- 
thing of that praying in the Holy Ghost, which will 
lead to an asking for things agreeable to Jehovah's 
will. My ignorance of divine things, of the great 
God who has created all things for His glory, of the 
Son of His infinite and everlasting love, of the nature 
and distinguishing characters of the operation of the 
eternal Spirit, and oftentimes even more than all 
these, my ignorance of my own heart's vileness and 
pollution, fill me with a kind of spiritual amazement. 

1 could say of myself, Let shame and confusion cover 



228 



LETTERS. 



me, let me be ashamed and confounded, and never 
open my mouth any more for my sins and mine ini- 
quities. I trust it is the cry of my soul — 

" ' Let thy sweet mercies also come 
And visit me, O Lord ; 
Even thy benign salvation 
According to thy word. 1 

" It was the Communion season last Sabbath. I 
cannot at present say much about it, for my suit at 
the Court of the Great King is still pending. By 
faith I desire to be looking for the answer to the cries 
which my soul, I trust, through infinite grace, made 
in the ears of Him who spread that table, and was 
Himself the entertainment thereof. I saw that it 
was also the Supper of the great God, a wondrous 
manifestation of the perfection of the mighty God of 
Jacob shining forth upon the Person of the Son of 
His love ; the glory of His justice, and holiness, and 
yet toward sinners (by the same mysterious spec- 
tacle) the wonders of his mercy and compassion, and 
the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. for the 
spiritual eye, and ear, and understanding to know 
these unsearchable and glorious attributes of Him 
who is Almighty, even Jehovah. 

" At the table, my mouth was at length opened to 
plead for the brethren of Zion; certainly without 
any premeditation, you were the first I could plead 
for. " 



LETTERS. 



229 



M London, August 1851. 

" Beloved Mothek — You would enjoy ' the Al- 
liance' meetings much. J. Angell James addressed 
it to-day. His address related to the gathering of all 
the saints unto Christ. He said, ' What would the 
gathering of a court be without the King ; the pre- 
paring of the bride without the Bridegroom V The 
Exhibition has not so greatly astonished me ; per- 
haps I had received an exaggerated account of it ; 
but, my own mother, what will the grand exhibition 
of grace at the last day not be ? What will it be to 
see and hear the wonders of the divine skill in fashion- 
ing hell-deserving sinners into the sweet and lovely 
image of Jesus ! Then will there be far nobler tro- 
phies brought from every people and tribe than the 
flags which now flaunt over these works of art, or 
these boasted products of the industry of the nations 
themselves." 

" Edinburgh, 23<Z April 1852. 

"My own Beloved Mothee — Many thanks for 
your and my father's kind wishes for this day. Next 
to the approval of my God is the desire of my heart 
to please my beloved parents, and to have their ap- 
proval. May I obtain grace and help to render this 
poor recompence (it is all a child can) for your trouble 
and care for me. 

u The time was when I could have wished rather 
to have been a piece of wood or stone than an im- 



230 



LETTERS. 



mortal being ; to think of eternity was dreadful. I 
remember this well at the time when you gave me 
' Way for a Child to be Saved/ It shewed me enough 
of the way to let me know that I had never trodden 
it. But what a blessing is life if thereby we are 
taught of the infinite mercy of God, made conscious 
in any degree, however small, of that love to the 
children of men which prompted the gift of His only 
begotten, His beloved, His well-beloved Son. 

"And then, what a prospect (if we have such 
through free, sovereign grace) is that, of spending an 
eternity with Christ ! for grace and faith to walk 
in the footsteps of Jesus, through the pilgrimage 
journey, that our life might be entirely devoted to 
Him who gave it, ' who is Lord both of the dead and 
of the living/ " 

" Edinburgh, 9th January 1853. 

" Many thanks for all your kind wishes of 

the season. May the prayers among them, indeed, 
enter into His ears who can alone accomplish the 
desires of our hearts. 

" You seem to have had trials within, as well as 
storms without. The wind and the floods of darkness 
and unbelief are certainly as real as those in the outer 
world. We are apt to think, at the time, that they 
only proceed from our own sins, that we have our- 
selves raised all the clouds of darkness and confusion ; 
but often we may see that a higher power was in the 



LETTERS. 



231 



storm, and that the Almighty One did ride upon the 
blast, upon the wings of these winds also ; all accom- 
plishing the purposes of His deep love and mercy. 

u How great were the troubles of the soul of our 
' Beloved/ when He was forty days and nights 
tempted of the Devil in the wilderness, and then it 
says, ' He was with the wild beasts/ 

"By these troubles, do we not learn something 

more of the heart of our Beloved One ? If the few 

drops that sometimes His poor and afflicted people 

have to drink are so bitter, what must His sufferings 

have been who had to drink the full measure of the 

cup of His Father's wrath ? And then, my beloved 

mother, in J esus let us sing — 

" 1 Eor yet I know I shall Him praise, 
Who graciously to me, 
The health is of my countenance, 
Yea, our own God is He.' 

" Your affectionate Son." 

Though we are thereby anticipating his days in 
China, we may insert here a letter to one of his Chris- 
tian friends at Edinburgh ; it looks back as well as 
forward— 

Amot, August 1857. 

" My Dear Friend — I trust that your prayers on 
my behalf are not unheard. Our kind and loving 
Master kept me from sea-sickness during the whole 
voyage, while I used to be sadly troubled with that 



232 



LETTERS. 



ailment. The 139th Psalm was my daily meditation, 
I could not well get out of it, together with some other 
Scriptures. Deprived of the companionship of all 
my familiars, and for the most part of the journey 
having no one with whom I could hold fellowship 
about divine things, to whom could I go but unto 
Jesus ? Often, early in the morning before many of 
the passengers had risen, I got a seat in the very 
front of the ship, and read (as we travelled fast from 
my native land and over the bright blue sea), 6 If I 
take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utter- 
most parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead 
me, and Thy right hand shall hold me ! ' These words 
also came as we passed down the Red Sea, and so 
across all the tracts of ocean, till landed in safety on 
this shore. Read this psalm in prayer before the 
throne of grace, and may it prove to you, as it was 
made to me, a gift from the hands of Him who was 
crucified for us. I know, alas ! of no souls saved 
during the voyage. Some may have been impressed, 
but that is all. And now here I am in this mighty 
empire, surrounded by millions upon millions of poor 
perishing heathen, but can say nothing to them, not 
knowing their strange tongue. 

" And how is it with your soul, my dear friend in 
Jesus ? I can fancy that we are talking together in 

your little room, in Street, and after prayer and 

the word, we speak of Jesus. When saw you Him 



LETTERS. 



233 



whom our souls love ? What was your last meeting 
with Jesus ? Have you had any meditation on the 
sweetness of His words ? The words which drop 
balm into the wounds which the worldly spirit from 
without, or the carnal fleshly mind from within, have 
given us. But while He heals, how He loathes these 
unsightly wounds ! 

" It was the Communion Sabbath to-day, and I sat 
next an old Chinese believer. It was long before he 
could be prevailed on to cast away the family tablets, 
which are also idols, for they sacrifice to them ; but 
at length he did cast them, it is trusted, out of his 
heart and hands, and turned to the living God, and 
to wait for His Son from heaven. There are several 
old men and women who in their old age have been 
born again. Tell your mother, that some of the old 
women remind me very much of those of our own 
country. Some of the Christian women are good 
drawers of their heathen neighbours to hear the 
gospel, and so c faith cometh by hearing, and hearing 
by the word of God/ Boo-a, the nurse who took Dr 
Young's child home, and whom you may have seen 
in Mr Brown's church, is well and goes on steadily. 

" Tell me about souls, if you have heard lately of 
any pressing into the kingdom of heaven. The glory 
of God and the salvation of precious souls are the 
only objects worthy of the solicitude or deep affec- 
tions of the heart. I long, with all my heart, to hear 



234 



SERMON. 



of the Lord's work prospering, and being revived 
mightily at home. Never give up pleading for this. 

" I trust your dear mother doth cleave to Jesus's 
righteousness, forsaking utterly the filthy rags, and 
walks not after the flesh but after the spirit. Is 

J to allow Chinese mothers and their families to 

press into the kingdom of heaven, and take her seat 
at the marriage-table of the Lamb ? I feel as if I 
were supported by prayers of believers at home. It 
is all needed to maintain the life of God during the 
long season of study of the language. Commending 
you entirely to the love and mercy of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, " Tour friend in Jesus/' 

We cannot furnish any fully written out specimen 
of his sermons ; but the following may give some 
idea of the matter of his preaching, and his mode of 
applying his subject : — 

" Philippians iii. 7-9.* 

" * But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for 
Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom 
I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, 
that I may win Christ. And be found in Him, not having mine 
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through 
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.* 

"There is brought before us, in this passage, a 
man in two very different states of mind. There is 

* For his own use evidently, there is attached to these notes a 



SERMON. 



235 



Said, the well-bom of the stock of Israel, the pecu- 
liar people of God, the circumcised man, an Hebrew 
of the Hebrews ; and there is Paid, counting his 
lineage, his circumcision, his learning, his all, but loss. 
There is Saul, uttering the prayer, ' God, I thank thee 
that I am not as other men are : extortioners, unjust, 
adulterers, or even as this publican ! ' — and there is 
Paul, uttering the exclamation, 'This is a faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom 
I am chief/ In a word, we have here Saul rejoicing 
in himself, and Paul rejoicing only in Christ Jesus. 

" Let us endeavour, looking up to the Lord for the 
guidance and blessing of the Holy Spirit, to consider — 

" I. What things are gain to the man who is in 
his natural and unconverted state. 

w II. What it is to count them loss for Christ. 

w III. Why they must be counted loss for Christ. 

" L What things are gain to the natural man ? 

" I answer, in Scripture language, ' All that he 
hath 1 (Matt. xiii. 44) ; that is, all that men account 
of value. But to be more particular : — 1. A man's 

memorandum — " ' Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is 
not mine, but His that sent me.' ' He that speaketh of himself, 
seeketh his own glory ; but He that seeketh His glory that sent 
him, the same is true and no unrighteousness in him.' If the 
Lord of glory so spake in His ministry, how much more thou, O 
hell-deserving sinner ! A child thou art. wait thou upon God 
for every word/' 



236 



SERMON. 



house is gain to him. Be it small or large, whether 
he has inherited it, or at last, after years of toil, 
purchased it ; whether it is his own or not, if only- 
he tenants it as his house ; if its roof protects him 
from the blasts of winter, and shields him from the 
wind and rain, affording the man comfortable rest 
and sleep — such a house to the natural man is c gain/ 
And the more does he feel this when he looks abroad, 
and thinks how many wander on the face of the earth 
without a house to cover or a home to welcome them. 
Still more is a man's house ' gain ' to him, when he 
takes what men call 6 a pride ' in keeping and gar- 
nishing it. 2. Again, what a man has of this 
world's goods is ' gain ' to him. Has he wealth ? 
Thai he counts gain ? Has he by diligence acquired 
what men call a sufficiency or competency ? That is 
counted c gain/ Have you gathered together a little, 
however little, of this world's goods ? Do you begin 
to think of it ? Does your heart stay with it ? The 
Scripture saith, ' Where your treasure is, there will 
your heart be also/ (Matt. vi. 21). When called 
upon to give to some poor child of Adam, do you 
give of your earthly treasure, but with a grudge? 
Or when there is an opportunity of helping forward 
the preaching of the gospel, do you give, but not 
willingly ? The worldly possessions or goods of such 
are counted 'gain' to them. 3. But farther, have you 
good health and strength ? These, too, are ' gain ' to 



SERMON, 



237 



the natural man, as I shall afterwards explain. These 
things, indeed, are to be counted blessings, even to 
the children of God ; but in an especial manner are 
they i gain ' to the unrenewed man. When a man is 
in health, he finds it difficult to believe that the evil 
day of sickness will come upon him. He rises re- 
freshed and vigorous, and goes forth to his labour, 
saying in his heart, 1 The evil day has not come yet, 
nor those years drawn nigh when I shall say, I have 
no pleasure in them/ 4. The Apostle had great 
knowledge. His learning was great : he had been 
brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. He profited 
above all his fellows. This Saul counted 'gain;' 
and so with the wisdom which long experience of 
this world's affairs often gives. One possessing this 
may be often consulted about worldly affairs. He 
has been enabled to conduct his own affairs with 
discretion ; and he reaps the fruit of it, respect and 
influence among his fellow-men. 5. This leads us 
to a still more important subject under this head, a 
good name. Ah, my friends, many poor souls have 
been ruined by means of their good name. They 
have, to the eye of man, conducted themselves well. 
They have acquired, by outwardly respectable con- 
duct, by paying every man his debt, a certain credit 
and name ; and if asked to do anything contrary to 
what is right, they may even answer, ' That would 
destroy my name/ Saul, my friends, before he knew 



238 



SERMON. 



Christ, thought that he had a blameless character, a 
spotless name. He thought within himself, I am 
not like that tax-gatherer, like that publican ; I 
have wronged no man ; I never refused to pay 
my debt to the last farthing ; I attend to all out- 
ward duties ; who can say anything against me ? 
So thought Saul before Christ met him on the way 
to Damascus. So, my dear friends, do many of you. 
A poor sinner would tell you so from the Lord. O 
be honest with your own souls ! Are none of you 
now trusting in your good name ? Is it not c gain' 
to you ? But if the evil of this stopped here, it 
would be less dangerous to your never-dying souls. 
But, alas ! it goes farther. It extends to what is 
referred to in the chapter before us, i having confi- 
dence in the flesh, 3 that is, toward God. And thus 
we have what Paul points to in the 6th verse, ' Touch- 
ing the righteousness which is in the law, blameless/ 
This may be explained as blameless in the eye of 
man ; performing so well his outward duties to man, 
which are required by the law, that he is accounted by 
other men, and he accounts himself, blameless. But, 
alas ! almost every natural man, every unrenewed man, 
goes much farther than this. The Psalmist of old, who 
knew God with whom he had to do, said, ' My good- 
ness extendeth not to thee/ but the man who has not 
been brought down as a guilty, undone sinner before 
Ood, has no such thought. He thinks that the Lord 



SERMON; 



239 



is altogether such an one as himself. He has passed 
through this life quietly and comfortably enough ; he 
has wronged no man ; no man has aught against him ; 
and so, whether he is expressing it to his fellow-men 
or no, he is in fact ' trusting in himself that he is 
righteous/ This was the crowning 6 gain' that Saul 
had, when he went in and out among his people ; this 
might have been read in his countenance, as he went 
daily to learn of Gamaliel ; and still more so when he 
was respectfully saluted in the streets of Jerusalem, 
as the straitest of the ' straitest sect' of religious men, 
as they were accounted, and when his opinion was 
listened to with respect. And then Saul made 
prayers ; he was regularly at the temple at the ap- 
pointed hour. He brought the sacrifice, he paid the 
tithes, he gave his alms, he strictly attended to every 
external ordinance. And among men, for all these 
things, Saul had his reward. 

" But, alas ! are there no Sauls in our day ? It may 
not take such an open self-righteous form, but is it 
the less real, the less deadly ? You, too, my friends, 
it may be, have wronged no man ; you are accounted 
blameless in your outward conduct. You, too, come 
to the house of the Lord ; you join in the praises ; you 
stand up and are seen to take pari in the prayers ; 
you listen to your minister ; you give, shall we say 
liberally ? to the poor ; and as the different schemes of 
the Church are brought forward, you are not behind, 



240 



SERMON. 



with your subscription. You do not, on the other 
hand, altogether neglect private prayers at home. 
You kneel in the morning and at night ; you also, it 
may be, hold or attend family prayers. You really 
cannot see that you are as bad as some people say. 
You think that after all you will not be so hardly 
dealt with in the next world as you have been told. 
And, last of all, though you are ready to admit that 
you do not always feel so kindly to your relations or 
to your neighbours as you might, and do sometimes 
shew a little unkindness of disposition in speaking of 
the faults of neighbours, yet that after all you cannot 
see that your heart is so very bad as some tell you. 
Ah ! my friends, to you it must be said, that you are 
in ' the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity/ 
For you do esteem as 'gain' your outward conduct — 
you have ' confidence in the flesh/ You do trust in 
yourselves that you are righteous. You do not feel 
that had not Jesus died your doom was for ever fixed. 
All such, the word of the living God, the God of 
eternal truth, declares to be 'dead in their sins/ 
They are lying under the wrath of God, they are 
subject to be destroyed every moment. The eternal 
and mighty Jehovah has but to utter His sentence, 
and their fate is sealed for ever. It specially Gon+ 
cerns such to hear the voice of the Lord speaking in 
his word, to hear the salvation of God. The inspired 
Apostle says, in the passage before us, that he counted 



SERMON. 



241 



those things of which we have been speaking as ' loss 
for Christ/ 

" II. What, then, is it to count those things loss 
for Christ? 

u The word 1 loss' seems to be taken from the loss 
which those on board a ship sustain, when, on account 
of stress of weather, they are compelled to throw their 
goods overboard. But, as one well remarks, there is 
this difference : those who throw what they possess 
overboard because of the storm, do it reluctantly — do 
it because they are obliged ; but as we shall see after- 
wards, and as ver. 8 shews, the Apostle counts all 
these things as utterly worthless in comparison with 
Christ. 

" And now we have to consider— 
" III. Why the Apostle counted all these things 
but loss. 

u These things are seen to be 'gain' to the natural 
man. Many of them are real blessings in them- 
selves, and only received from God and through His 
Son. Why, then, does the Apostle count them all 
as * loss V 

" And here, my friends, mark closely the last words 
of this sentence, which seems at first so forbidding to 
the natural man : f What things were gain to us, these 
I counted loss for Christ/ It is all loss for Christ's 
sake. Art thou a child of God ? Then thou needest 
no more to be said to thee to induce thee to consent 

Q 



242 



SERMOK 



to give up all that thou hast — to 6 count it all but 
loss/ when it is added, ' for Christ/ 

" (1.) But some of you may say, Why give up all 
for Christ ? Why cannot I come to Christ without 
giving up all that I have ? Now, my dear friend, 
let me say, first of all, that this question displays thy 
ignorance of Christ; and O remember what this 
means, and the Lord give thee a heart to feel, and a 
willing mind, by His Holy Spirit, to attend to what 
a poor fellow-sinner would desire to say from God's 
word concerning this. Believe me, if the word of 
God be true, you have a disease which no physician 
on earth can heal. You are of the children of the 
first Adam ; and the record of the living and true 
God concerning thee is Psa. xiv. 1-3, and Bom. iii. 
10-19 : 6 The fool hath said in his heart, There is 
no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abomi- 
nable iniquity. There is none righteous, no not one.' 
Such is thy state, the state of those who are yet out 
of Christ. 

" But you ask, Why must we give up all for Christ ? 
Hear the word of the Lord God of Sabaoth, Acts iv. 
12 : 'Neither is there salvation in any other : for 
there is none other name under heaven given among 
men whereby we must be saved. 9 That, my friends, 
fixes us down to Christ. And then, hear the words 
of Jesus himself, Luke xiv. 26: 'If any man come 
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, 



SERMON. 



243 



and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his 
own life also, he cannot be my disciple/ Again, on 
this very account we are told that it is a ' strait gate 
and a narrow way' that leadeth unto life. 

" And then, my friends, to count all things but loss 
for Christ is just to say, 1 1 count all my righteous- 
ness as filthy rags f and this is what the God of all 
truth declares them to be. Do any now present hope, 
somehow or other, to get to heaven as they are in 
themselves, and on account of anything they have done, 
or can do ? This, alas ! is one of these awful delu- 
sions by which Satan ruins souls for ever and ever ! 
Ever since the law was promulgated from Sinai, 
men have sought to save themselves by means of it. 
And have they succeeded ? Has any one soul so suc- 
ceeded ! Examine and see the word of everlasting 
truth, Rom. iii 19, 20, 1 Every mouth is stopped, and 
all the world become guilty before God. By the 
deeds of the law there sha.ll no flesh be justified vti 
His sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin/ 
And why have men not so obtained it ? Because the 
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, 
and good. Yes, and if the law is holy, then is the 
Lawgiver of necessity holy. My friends, Jehovah the 
Lawgiver is infinitely holy ; nothing that defiles is 
suffered to enter His presence, and yet you and I 
have to do with this holy God. We are born His 
creatures, we are born under the law, and yet are 



244 



SERMON. 



utterly incapable of keeping that law. "We and all 
men must inevitably be judged by the law, and our 
consciences bear witness that we ought to be judged 
by the law ; yet have we the witness of our conscience 
that we keep not that law, and the plain word of Je- 
hovah declares that ' by the deeds of the law there 
shall no flesh living be justified/ my friends, 
can you or I stand before the Holy One? His 
throne stands on immutable justice ; justice and 
judgment are the foundation of his throne ; He can- 
not look upon sin. And this is the God with whom 
we have to do. Even now is He searching e very- 
heart here. He knows, O sinner, every thought of 
thine. He sees thee, and He sees me, to be full of 
every iniquity. At any moment, His almighty hand 
may descend upon us. 

" Would you then escape J ehovah's justice ? 
Would you be saved from everlasting ruin ? Then 
listen to the voice of Jesus. Hear Him cry, 'If 
any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink/ 
This hour, it is declared from the word of God, 
that Christ has made satisfaction for every poor 
sinner who will but cease from his own works. He 
has made full atonement for the very chief of sinners. 
He now proclaims a full, free pardon to every sinner 
who will but accept it. The sole condition is, Thou 
must forsake every refuge of lies, thou must cast away 
every shred of thy filthy garments. They cannot 



SEEMON. 



245 



cover thee, sinner, from the Father's wrath now, 
more than the miserable fig-leaves which Adam and 
Eve tried could prevent them from being driven out 
of Paradise, or shield from the descending curse of the 
Eternal, the effects of which thou art now, sinner, 
bearing every day, and wilt bear, if thou awake not, 
to all eternity. Oh how the apostle, who was once 
in your case, who even vainly imagined he could meet 
the living God face to face as he was, tells the desire 
of his soul when the Lord had savingly taught him 
by His Holy Spirit, i For whom I have suffered the 
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that 
I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having 
mine own righteousness. 9 Ah ! he had seen some- 
thing of the glory of the Lord God of Hosts. The 
beams of the glory of Immanuel had shot forth upon 
bold, spirited Saul, and he was struck blind. He 
was suddenly shewn in what a horrible pit and miry 
clay he was rolling, how he was denying the all- 
glorious and spotless Son of God, and he submitted 
to the Lord of glory. From that hour, for him 6 to 
live was Christ, and to die gain! By the immu- 
table justice of God, and by your lost and ruined 
state, since there is indeed no other way of escape, 
O be persuaded to submit yourselves to the right- 
eousness of Jesus Christ, forsaking all that you have 
that you may win Christ. 

" 2. But again, Let the ( Excellency of the know- 



246 



SEKMON. 



ledge of Christ Jesus' persuade you to cleave only to 
Him. For the sake of this, O do you, with Paul, 
' count all things but loss/ To tell you of Jesus 
Christ, my friends, in adequate terms, is what no 
angel, and no archangel can do ; no, nor even the 
cherubim who are over the mercy-seat, and who 
behold something of the marvels that are transacted 
there. They cannot do it now ; they never will do it 
throughout all the endless ages of eternity. No, nor 
even the glorified spirits. These have a new song, 
which angels cannot learn, and that song every 
child of God knows must be about Jesus ; yet they 
shall be for ever lost in the contemplation of the 
divine glory, the spotless beauty, the never to be com- 
prehended height, and depth, and length, and breadth 
of Immanuers love. Yet it becomes us to set forth 
something of what is in J esus, that by the good and 
Holy Spirit of God, who takes of the things of Christ 
and shews them to sinners, you may be taken with 
admiration of this glorious One. 

"First, then, let us look (as the Lord Jehovah 
gives us grace) at the glory of Immanuel. It becomes 
rather to see what is written in the blessed Book of 
God. Thus, Psa. xlv. 1-6, 'My heart is inditing 
a good matter : I speak of the things which I have 
made touching the King ; my tongue is the pen 
of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the chil- 
dren of men : grace is poured into thy lips/ &c. O 



SERMON. 



247 



see the glory of Immanuel, God with us ! From all 
eternity was He in the bosom of the Father, before 
the world was. The holy Lord God the Father 
loved with a vast, infinite love the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Hear the words of Jesus Himself shortly 
before he was offered up a sacrifice for sinners : ' And 
now, Father, glorify me with the glory I had with 
Thee ere ever the world was,' (John xvii. 5). Yes, 
the Lord Jesus was the object of the Father's im- 
mense and everlasting love in the past ages of eternity; 
and when He dwelt on earth, with nowhere to lay 
his head, thrice came forth the voice from heaven, 
c This is my Beloved Son ! hear ye Him/ And now, 
my friends, He is the same. Yes, while the Great 
High Priest, once bleeding and dead, but now exalted 
to the highest heights of heaven, while He stands at 
the right hand of His Father's throne pleading for the 
rebellious (and He never pleads in vain), the Father 
loves Him with an everlasting love. Yes, and He 
shines with the added majesty of His Mediatorial 
crown. Would you hear what is daily and hourly 
transacted in heaven in regard to the Saviour who is 
now proclaimed to even the chief of sinners, and 
would you learn something of His glory in heaven ? 

then turn to Eev. v. 6-14, 1 1 beheld Worthy 

is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and 
glory, and blessing/ &c. 



248 



SEKMON 



" Three men, sinners by nature as we are, were made 
eye-witnesses, and permitted to get one partial glimpse 
of the glory of Christ, when they were on the Mount 
of Transfiguration. Little as they saw of it, it is said, 
they feared, and Peter desired to be always there. 
Paul likewise saw something of His glory. But, my 
friends, all the natural displays of His glory cannot 
be compared with the spiritual glory — the glorious 
and holy majesty of His Person. And then, think 
how, in the midst of the glory of His Divinity, He is 
also Man. He is God over all, blessed for ever ; yet 
is He man likewise. He knows your every feeling, 
your every temptation, for 6 He was tempted in all 
points like as we are, yet without sin.' He bears the 
same heart in heaven that He had upon earth. He 
is the glorious Man Christ Jesus. Oh, while angels 
and archangels bow before the Lamb, shall you, shall 
I, refuse to do homage to Him ? While heaven now 
rings with the praise of His glory and His grace, will 
ye hold back from Him? Will poor sinners here 
wrap round and round them their own rags of self- 
righteousness ? Will they say within themselves, We 
are rich and have need of nothing, while they are 
poor, and miserable, and destitute, and blind, and 
naked ; and while Immanuel stands by, saying, ' I 
counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that 
thou mayest be rich, and fine raiment, that thou 
mayest be clothed V What a spectacle to devils and 



SEKMON. 



angels ! Oh, cease to clutch your gains ; they are 
like gold to you, bat they are the devil's chains. 
cast them from you, and embrace Jesus Christ as He 
is freely offered in the glorious gospel of grace. 
Whenever you have beheld any thing of the glory of 
the grace of Christ, you will be able to cry out with 
Paul, 4 What things were gain to me, those I count 
loss for Christ! 

u 3. Let us think of the love of Christ. This is 
part of the 6 excellency of the knowledge of Christ/ 
The most that can be done on this subject also, is to 
try and catch a few of the beams of the love of God- 
man Christ J esus. The marvellous love of J esus to 
perishing sinners was manifested in His leaving the 
bosom of the Father, leaving the courts of infinite 
holiness and everlasting peace, leaving the Father's 
house, leaving the throne of His glory, and coming 
down to the earth ! — the accursed earth ! — and to 
the unholy, accursed children of men ! We know not 
what the holy child Jesus suffered in His soul when 
He had to go out and in among men — men who had 
departed from His Father, who had set all His laws 
at defiance, and w T ho (He well knew) were about to 
consummate all their guilt by putting His Well Be- 
loved to a cruel and ignominious death. We know 
that He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
grief ; there is reason to believe, that while still in 
the full strength of early manhood, he seemed like 



250 



SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 



one far on in years. And why all this ? Ah ! it was 
part of that 'bearing of our iniquity, and carrying 
our sorrows,' which he came to endure, and to which 
His incomprehensible love impelled Him. For our 
sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty 
might become rich. But what was all this to His 
bearing His Father's wrath for us, the rebellious/' 

As we said before, we have no fuller specimen than 
the above in his manuscripts ; but it may be interest- 
ing to add a few sketches of sermons which he 
preached. 

"Psalm xlv. 2. — c Thou art fairer,' &c. 
The subject may be distributed as follows : — 
I. The exceeding beauty or fairness of Christ. 
As God ; as man ; as the Bridegroom of the 
Church, the Divine Lover of souls. 
II. The grace of his lips. As to the matter of 
his speech ; as to the manner ; as to the 
effusion of the Spirit of grace into and from 
his lips. 

III. The eternal blessedness of the Lord Jesus!' 

" Luke xiii. 34. — * When he beheld the city,' &c. 
I. The City. Its circumstances and previous con- 
duct. 

II. The Person and Attitude of Him who ad- 
dressed them. It was He who had dwelt 



SKETCHES OF SERMONS. 



251 



with Israel, &c. His attitude of expostula- 
tion, compassionate long-suffering, tender 
love. 

III. Their attitude toward Him. 

IV. The sudden issue" 



" Hebrews vl 5. — * The powers of the world to come.' 

I. God. 

II. Immortality. Unceasing existence. 
III. The Eternal Judgment. Endless bliss ; end- 
less woe." 



"Ephes. v. 14. — 'Awake, thou that sleepest,' &c. 

I. The Sleep and Death brought on by sin. 
II. Who arouses from this state, and His man- 
ner of do ing so. 
III. The summons to the sleeper and to the dead/' 

"John in. 14, 15. — 4 And as Moses lifted up the serpent/ &c. 
Let us consider the Type and Antitype in their 
resemblance. 

I. As to the manner of their lifting up, and 
the place. 

II. As to the purpose, or end, of their being 
lifted up. 

III. As to the means by which that end was ac- 

complished. 

IV. The necessity of this lifting up." 



CHAPTER VII. 



lis $ritf (farm in &\)\n* 



44 I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and 
who will go for us ? Then said I, Here am I ; send me." 

Isaiah vi. 8. 



More than thirty years ago (it is related by an 
American writer), two young gentlemen, while travel- 
ling in opposite directions, met at a brook ; and as 
their horses were drinking, the elder addressed the 
younger about his soul's eternal interests. They 
soon parted ; but those faithful words of love were, 
by the blessed Spirit, made the means of leading the 
younger traveller to the Saviour. That young man 
was Champion, the idol of his family ; for he was 
an only son, the last bearing his father's name, and 
already the possessor of great wealth. No sooner 
was he saved, than he consecrated himself to the 
missionary service, and chose as his sphere Africa, 
as the most benighted and neglected of countries. 
His father opposed his son's resolution of becoming a 
missionary, and proposed to support twenty mis- 
sionaries out of his ample means, if only he person- 
ally would stay at home. " No/' was his calm reply ; 



256 



J. BRAINERD TAYLOR. 



" the Saviour left richer possessions, and sacrificed His 
life for me ; I cannot stay." He lived to labour five 
years in Africa, devoting all his property to the cause 
of missions. Often did he desire to know who that 
stranger was that had addressed him by the brook 
side, but could get no clue to it ; till one day, in 
Africa, he opened the memoir of J. Brainerd Taylor, 
just sent out to him from home. His eye fell on the 
likeness prefixed to the memoir, and instantly he 
knew who it was that had been the means of saving 
his soul. 

It is not unlikely that there will be some one who 
may thus recognise the subject of this Memoir when 
they look at the prefixed portrait. For, like J. 
Brainerd Taylor (to whose life I have heard him 
refer as one that had helped to stimulate him to 
covet earnestly the best gifts), he used to seize such 
casual opportunities as that related in this incident, 
speaking a word in season to passing travellers who 
knew not the man that so kindly cared for their souls. 
But we had another reason for mentioning the above 
anecdote, namely, the subject of our Memoir was, in 
some respects, a parallel to young Champion in self- 
sacrifice, and in the shortness of his ministry. If he 
had not so large a fortune as Champion, yet he had 
lately, by the death of his father, come into posses- 
sion of very ample means, and might have remained 



SINGLE-MINDED GENEROSITY. 



257 



at home to enjoy its comforts, while he could, at the 
same time, have spent his income in sending out 
others in his stead. Nothing, however, would satisfy 
his devoted, single-minded spirit, but personal con- 
secration to the mission cause. As for worldly wealth 
and position in society, "none of these things moved 
him/' any more than Paul was moved by the oppo- 
site ; and yet it is even more difficult to withstand the 
insidious smiles of affluence, than to resist the frowns 
of the bitterest adversary. When some one made 
reference to the delightful scenery and sweet dwelling 
which might have all been his, his reply was, " Can 
any one suppose that that could make any difference ? 
Ah, those many mansions ! that city that hath founda- 
tions ; these things look solid and substantial, but 
they shall all pass away/' 

He was generous in all his dealings and actings : 
the love of money seemed to have no place in his 
heart. Open-handed liberality was characteristic of 
him ; but he acted on his Master's rule, " When thou 
doest aims, let not thy left hand know what thy right 
hand doeth," (Matt. vi. 3). On his deathbed he con- 
firmed the arrangement which he made before leav- 
ing home, to the effect that, of all his property, 
"One-eighth should he devoted to the spread of 
the gospel at home, and seven-eighths for the spread 
of the gospel in China/' He was one who, in true 



258 



PKOSPECTS IN CHINA. 



Pentecostal spirit, called nothing that he had his 
own. 

And now he has reached China, that vast empire 
of benighted souls, where not less than 360 millions 
of our fellow-men are " walking in darkness and in 
the shadow of death/' He is cheerful, happy, full of 
hope, abounding in prayer, busy in preparation for 
future usefulness. He has sacrificed all earthly com- 
forts for love of Christ and of souls ; he has already, 
by the past, gained much experience in the divine 
life, so that every way we would have said that here 
was one with a sharp sickle in his hand, fit to be sent 
into these fields that are so white and ready to the 
harvest. He has health of body, too, and is more 
likely than many others to bear well the burden of 
the climate. We might almost say (as Montgomery 
does of Spencer), " He carried victory in his face/' 
But man's ways are not God's ways.* 

* The old complaint, that " The good die young," is no other 
than that of the Greek heathen Sophocles, who brings in one of 
his characters (Philoctet. 450), saying that "the gods are ever 
sending away all that is just and good." 

" . . . ra 

Aixcua, %at roc Xgqor airoorsXkovti' as/." 

But Montgomery has cast over the fact the light of Christian reve- 
lation, in singing of young Spencer of Liverpool — 

" The brightest star of morning's host, 
Scarce risen, in brighter beams is lost — 
So sprang his soul to light." 



DEATH CONTEMPLATED. 



259 



He himself had often contemplated the possibility 
of an early close to his ministry, though we cannot 
say he had any presentiment of it. Hopefulness, and 
therefore, of course, happy cheerfulness lightened up 
his soul, so that he never dwelt on the dark side of 
the cloud, but fixed on the silver lining ; so much so, 
that one of his friends used to be reminded by his 
character of Bunyan's Hopeful, and used to think 
that he was one whom, of all others, he should like 
to have with him when fording the cold waters of 
death. His earlier journals contain references to 
the subject, just such as any man of God, who real- 
ised the uncertainty of life, might be led to make. 
At the same time, it is interesting to have the oppor- 
tunity of observing how the Master did all along 
warn His disciple, and prepare him for whatever 
might be the issue. We therefore insert these refer- 
ences here ; for putting them side by side, they are 
the more impressive. We find them successively 
in the years 1845, 1847, 1848, 1851. And to these 
we may append his allusions to the Lord's Second 
Coming, because he sometimes passes from the one 
to the other. He did not, however, confound the 
two events, Death and the Coming of Christ the 
second time. He keeps them quite distinct in his 
view, though (it will be seen in one of the extracts) 
he had not come to any positive conclusion regarding 



260 



DEATH CONTEMPLATED. 



the questions of time connected with that doctrine. 
Mr Sandeman sought to realise both the passing out 
of the body at death into the Lord's presence in glory, 
and the resurrection of the body, when the Lord re- 
turns and we shall be made like Him, seeing Him as 
He is. 

" 18th April 1845. — The longer I am on the way 
to the ministry, the more happy am I that the Lord 
in His infinite mercy has placed me in it. A glorious 
work ! And yet my heart often dwells on the thought, 
that I may be laid in the grave before ever these 
apostolic words are mine, 'Necessity is laid upon me 
to preach the gospel/ And would not that be far 
better ? Yea, Lord ; for to be absent from the body 
is to be present with Thee."" 

A few days after, he has again returned to the 
subject : — 

" I don't know how it is, but often I dwell on the 
thought of being taken soon to the Lord, before even 
I enter the ministry. It is a thought which is plea- 
sant to my heart, and which it cannot be wrong to 
entertain if I use it rightly. It ought to quicken me 
in the discharge of present duty. It ought to gladden 
my heart with the hope that I may be with J esus 
before long. Let me then entertain it only to stir 
me up to more earnest discharge of my duties 
now/' 



DEATH CONTEMPLATED. 



261 



" \9th January 1S47. — Am I prepared joyfully to 
quit this scene, and, passing through the valley, the 
dark valley it might be, of death, in order to join my 
King and Head ] my soul, examine thyself on this. 
What if thou hadst been taken away last week when 
the ice gave way \ What if this day a messenger of 
glory were to summon thee to go and to be with Jesus ? 
Wouldst thou far rather depart, leaving this world, and 
friends ! Would I be willing to forego in its present 
form the pleasure of thinking out subjects for myself 
in which I have found lately so great delight ? (for 
there, knowledge is swallowed up in love). I know 
not the realities of a deathbed, yet I see that Payson 
was ready, and more than ready, to depart ; that 
Brainerd was, that Janeway was. that Brainerd 
Taylor and H. Page were. may Jesus enable 
me, and so abide in me now, that it will be but a 
slight change, as it were, to go and abide in His 
bosom of everlasting love ! I, yet not I, but the 
grace of God in me, can say, that I think this spirit 
would not be unwilling now to depart and to be with 
Jesus/' 

c< l<otk December 184:7. — Death should take none of 
the Lord's chosen by surprise, any more than the 
entrance into the room of a child should a mother, 
or the sound of the horses' tread at the ordinary hour 
of her husband's carriage, should a loving wife, on his 



262 



EARLY DEATH. 



return from labouring for her welfare. The surprise 
should be, Why tarry the wheels of His chariot V 

In November 1 848 : — " ' To be with Christ, which 
is far better.' Are the pinions, my soul, wearying 
for the flight." 

"18th April 1850. — Spencer (of Liverpool) met 
an early grave. May his beautiful example of grace 
be blessed to my tardy soul, and also lead me to 
remember how short my time may be. Remarkable 
that one should be so eminently fitted by the Lord 
for the ministry, and then be removed to glory. 
Some intimations lately of the glory to be revealed. 

" To depart and to be with Jesus is a blissful 
thought The idea of it makes the eyes of the soul 
sparkle, and is something like the fixing of the mar- 
riage-day." 

" When shall I be as it were cast into the shoreless 
ocean of Thy love ? When wilt Thou shed the life- 
blood of all my enemies, my God and my King ? 
I know it is Thy hand that will finally do this, 
through the sword which proceedeth out of the mouth 
of my glorious Lord and Redeemer Christ Jesus. 
Hasten that time, O my God and Father, for the 
glory of Thy great name." 

" 6th February 1851. — Heard of J. M'Intosh being 
very ill, a student like myself, and in every way one 
with the prospect of many days on the earth. This 



EARLY DEATH. 



263 



shews me that in such an hour as I think not the 
Son of Man cometh ; and also says, c Whatsoever thy 
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might/ This 
cannot change the necessity of preparation for the 
great work, and yet it is fitted to shew that time 
should not unnecessarily be spent in it. 

" For some time back it has pleased the Lord espe- 
cially to lead me, in lying down at night, to realise 
that I know not whether I might ever rise from my 
bed ; and this has led me to have my various matters, 
even the smallest, so arranged that they might be in 
order should I be suddenly called away. 

" I see, more than ever I did, how the great Lord 
has no need of me here, that He can raise up instru- 
ments where and how it pleases Him. If He has 
work for me, He will keep me here ; if He has designed 
otherwise, He will take me home. 

" Though I cannot know the struggle of death, and 
though no believer will desire to be unclothed, but 
clothed upon, yet, if I am not deceived, I would gladly 
go hence to be without sin in glory. To be absent 
from the body is to be present with J esus ; no more 
besetting sins, no more grieving (a peculiarly precious 
thought) the Holy Spirit, the kind and loving Spirit 
of grace, and then to join the brethren in Jesus 
who have gone before — beloved Hewitson, Whitefield, 
Martyn, Brainerd, Boston, &c. True, I would then 



264 



EABLY DEATH. 



go as one who had done nothing for his Lord. I 
would then have a low seat among the Eedeemed, 
yet knowing that this would be the place my Lord 
had chosen, I would with joy take the lowest room. 
He knows which of all my desires is nearest my 
heart — even to serve Him in the ministry, and tc 
bring souls to His feet. And yet, let Him do as 
seemeth Him good. His will shall be my sweetest 
joy, for time and eternity. 

" The thought of leaving fellow-believers would be 
bitter to the flesh, and yet knowing how soon they 
would follow would soften the parting. 

" And now, O my Lord, living or dying, let me be 
Thine. I do, through Thy free, infinite grace, mercy, 
and love, surrender my whole spirit, soul, and body 
into Thy hands, that Thou mayest do with me as 
seemeth good in Thy sight. Lord, make Thou 
this effectual by Thy Holy Spirit. Amen/' 

"16th February. — John M'Intosh dead. How 
has his sun gone down at noon ! How beautiful and 
winning was he by grace, and also by gifts/'* 

* This was " The Earnest Student," as the writer of his memoir 
most appropria ely designates him. He cherished so high an idea 
of the sacred work before him, that he could scarcely satisfy him- 
self with any amount of intellectual preparation, having " the pre- 
sentiment and the desire that all might conduce to usefulness in 
his Lord's vineyard," p. 226. Mr Sandeman, on the other hand, 
while feeling no less the holy and awful work in view, acted as 



.THE CCLMIXG OF CHRIST. 



265 



u January 1847. — What henceforth can I have to 
do with myself — body, soul, and spirit ? I am bought 
with a price, and what a price ! Henceforth, by the 
grace and power of Jehovah, the great ' I AM ; by 
the effectual working of the Holy Spirit purchased 
by that price — even Jesus's blood : that I who live 
should not live unto myself) but unto Him which 
died for me, and rose again. Henceforth may I 
in a way unknown before, through grace, have the 
glory of Jehovah, of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as 
the one great end of my earthly sojourn, as the one 
great end of every hour s existence here below; of 
every thought, uvrd, and deed, until the glorious 
moment when I shall either depart and be with 
Christ, my Jesus, in heaven ; or, He shall descend 
from heaven with His holy angels, and I shall rise, 
being changed, to meet my blessed Saviour in the 
air." 

rt May my God keep His own glory and my Dying 
Hour, and the Second Coming of Jesus to judge the 
world, when every man must render his account of 

opportunity occurred very much on Richard Baxter's principle, 
when he published his various glowing treatises. Richard Bax- 
ter once thought that " nothing should be made public but what a 
man had first laid out his most choice art upon," but his conscience 
soon told him that he must seek to do good to his fellow-men as 
opportunity was given, though his literary reputation should there- 
by suffer. 



266 



HIS VOYAGE. 



the deeds done in the body — may my God, by His 
blessed Holy Spirit, keep these things continually 
before me/' 

"August 1848. — Let me wait on the blessed Spirit 
who is promised to lead us into all truth, for light 
as to the times of His appearing, that I may neither 
be wise above that which is written, or be lacking in 
the understanding of what it has pleased the Father 
to reveal for the good of His Church. 

"November 23. 1848. — Surely the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth together until now. The 
children groan being burdened by sin ; the aliens 
groan, in and through their sins ; the lower animals 
groan, and the very earth groans. - O for the day of 
the manifestation of the sons of God !" 

- We see, then, how the Lord had prepared His ser- 
vant's soul for any event. Still it was the highest 
wish of his heart to live to proclaim Christ in China, 
and his own view of his qualifications is thus stated : — 
" I have often thought that the work of an evangelist 
is better fitted to my kind of mind than that of a 
pastor. But who can say that I shall live to declare 
the gospel of Jesus ?" 

His brother Frederick and Mr Gr. F. Barbour, his 
brother-in-law, brought him on his journey as far as 
Berlin; and there they parted, not to meet again till 



MALTA. 



267 



the day of " our gathering together in Him! " * He 
sailed, 11th October, from Marseilles. "At the in- 
stant the anchor was hove up, and the sails spread, 
the heavenly Pilot came on board/' Of course, 
Egypt and the Red Sea were full of interest, as 
well as all the phenomena of such a voyage. Let 
us hear the following extracts of a letter written at 
Suez : — 

" On Board the Hindostan, 
"21st October 1856. 

" On the night of the full moon, there was a fine 
eclipse, all but total. It was singular to notice the 
effect, in the gradual darkening of the ship as it sailed 
on that lovely sea. The ship's telescope was a good 
aid in observing the phenomenon. It was interesting 
to think of the shadow of the earth, travelling away 
through space, and lighting on the clear full surface 
of yon luminary. The surface continued of a dead 
brown colour, with all the usual volcanic marks seen 
through. 

" At Malta, we first really felt the heat ; one of the 

passengers all but fainted on the street. There was 

a determined dart-like strength about it, assisting 

* Mr Allan, Hillhead, writes to a friend on taking leave of him 
at Edinburgh : " This is a sad house this week. I feel sorely the 
departure of that man of God. He left yesterday morning, full of 
the Holy Ghost and of faith, just one flame of love" 



288 



CAIRO. 



the idea of a sun-stroke. My white umbrella was of 
good service. The fortifications are considerable. 
One of the sentries was a Dundee man, who, with his 
wife, had been a hearer of Mr Burns during the revival. 
As soon as landed at Alexandria, we were off to the 
railway station for Cairo. 

" We passed through a considerable part of Egypt. 
Everything in the external aspect reminded you of 
Scripture. We crossed the Nile twice — the fields 
only drying up by degrees from the last inundation. 
Men watering the smaller fields 'with their feet/ 
guiding the stream through their various parts. Seed 
that had been cast on the waters, growing up in luxu- 
riant fruitfulness ; and c ten' or ' twelve yoke of oxen' 
at once ploughing one of the fields. The true Egyp- 
tian type of countenance you could not mistake for a 
moment : the very features of the men who held 
God's heritage so long in thraldom. 

" At Cairo, under a glorious sunset, it was precisely 
as if set down before a full lighted and coloured dio- 
rama. After securing (with great rushing on the pas- 
sengers' part) a room in the hotel, I walked out alone, 
getting rid of several dragomen and many donkey- 
boys, and passing through a garden which, in richness 
of verdure and variety of tropical trees, realised all 
one's day dreams of Oriental scenery. Amidst these 
trees, and seen far through them, were the rich tur- 



CAIRO. 



269 



bans and dresses of Turks and Arabians, male and 
female. On the outskirts, and along the roads 
leading to the bazaar, was a promiscuous crowd of 
horsemen and turbaned long-bearded Mussulmen, 
riding on donkeys (rather handsome animals), and all 
under the light of a sunset which just threw every- 
thing of the sort I have ever seen utterly into shade. 
As rich individual painting of clouds and pieces of 
sky you may see at home ; but such a succession, or 
building up of hues of glory, both of depth and 
beauty of colour, was quite new to me." 

" Midst of the Red Sea, 
" October 23. 

" Here we are steaming on nearly opposite Mecca, 
having passed the line of Sinai yesterday : it is sel- 
dom visible from the sea. 

" Bat perhaps you would like a notice or two of the 
Desert. We wore sun-hats made of the pith of a tree, 
helmet-shaped, with a veil fastened round the rim. 
Six of us started at nine A.M., in a van — first of a line 
of four — open before and at the side. Moving out 
of Cairo and along a road of hard, beaten sand, 
in whiteness resembling those in Italy, there was 
a fine view of the two principal pyramids. After 
a few more miles we had passed all the houses, 
and changed horses, or mules, at the first station of 



270 



THE DESERT. 



the Desert ; leaving which, you felt, as the wide waste 
opened in front, that you were fairly entered on what 
had so long hung in the imagination. One tree was 
perhaps visible, a few tufts near the roadway of a 
small shrub, or rather tall grass, and then an illimi- 
table trackless expanse of white burning sand. The 
heat was not so great ; a pretty strong breeze from 
the north made it rather agreeable for part of the 
road. The air, however, has a peculiar effect ; not so 
much exhilarating as exciting, such as you could 
fancy would string up Arab and Bedouin to the full 
amount of their powers. The horses, mules, and 
camels seem all indefatigable on these vast plains. 
They are most like an endless sea-shora 

" We met five or six caravans. The string of from 
a dozen to twenty or thirty camels went past us, 
each well laden, pacing steadily and so softly along ; 
their drivers either Arabs or black Ethiopians. A 
dead camel lay on the road. Another, our party saw 
fall down under its load. The next van passed some 
hours after ; the poor creature heard the noise and 
lifted its head ; tried to rise but could not. The 
patient animal followed the van with its eyes wistfully 
looking after them, and, doubtless, turned its head 
again to die. 

" The mirage we also saw, lying away towards the 
horizon, with its water, and headlands, and trees ! 



THE RED SEA. 



271 



Three trees, dining an entire day's journey, were all 
that met the eye. I cannot tell you of all the' Scrip- 
ture meditations which such a scene must suggest ; 
but I thought I had then seen and felt something 
of the ' waste, howling wilderness.' " 

Writing to another friend, and mentioning Egypt, 
he says — 

" My soul worshipped the young child who was 
carried into Egypt by night, the Governor of Israel, 
whose goings forth were from the days of eternity/' 
He carefully noted customs that might illustrate 
Scripture-language, among which one who so de- 
lighted in Isa. lv. 1, could not fail to observe " men 
with goatskins, and girls with antique-like jars, crying, 
Hfoi, mo i, t Water ! water!'" Leaving Aden, the 
vessel steamed onwards toward the " land of Sinim." 
On November 3d, he found an opening for preaching 
on board ship. " My poor imprisoned spirit" (writes 
he to his friend, Oswald Allen, Esq.) got a short 
flight yesterday in preaching the gospel to the pro- 
miscuous assemblage of passengers ; and as it grew 
darker, various men of the crew joined. Archdeacon 
Pratt read prayers and I preached. My text was, 
' It is finished! The work which the Father gave 
J esus to do. ' Finished' — the sufferings of Jesus all 
finished ; sin and Satan, to faith, finished ; and lastly, 
the everlasting righteousness for poor sinners wholly 



272 



VOYAGE — INDIA — PENANG. 



finished. From the capstan as my pulpit, with cap- 
tain, officers, young cadets, and civilians around me, 
and dimly lighted by lamps hung up by Chinese 
sailors, it was blessed to tell of the glorious, com- 
pleted work of Immanuel. My soul's desire and 
prayer was, Glorify thyself ! Glorify thy Son, that 
thy Son also may glorify thee." The vessel passed, 
of course, near the shore of India ; and, though not 
in view, his eye turned toward the spot where some 
of his college friends were now labouring for Christ 
among the Hindoos. Soon after reaching China, he 
wrote to Mr M'Callum, at Madras : " It was a consi- 
derable trial, and to this day I feel it to have been 
such, to pass so near to Madras, and not to have been 
able to see and hold fellowship in praise and prayer 
with you. It seems as if we had some right to claim 
a blessing in its stead from the hand of our gracious 
and loving Redeemer." 

" Point de Galle, 8tk November. — The quiet of a 
room to pray in, after the bustle of the steamer, was 
unspeakable relief." He preached in the Reformed 
Dutch Chapel, and then gave a parting word to seve- 
ral of the passengers, just in time to get on board the 
Chinese steamer. Every day, something of Chinese 
engages his attention. Then ; a no swearing on 
board this ship, which was a sore evil in the last." 
" The crowds of ants marching along the table are a 



FIKST SIGHT OF CHINA. 



273 



novel sight.*' " Entered Fencing harbour in a thun- 
der-storm — welcomed by Mr Mair — preached for him. 
Nearlv missed the steamer again/' 18th Xovember, 
Singapore, where he notes the fearful opium-trade at 
work. On 30th, Sabbath, meditating on " "h capovtfa) 
the appearing of Christ ; on Enoch, also : and on 
Psa. xcvi. and xcviii/ 3 

It was on 1st December that, as soon as he awoke, 
he saw the Hills of China ; and. kneeling down be- 
fore the Lord, asked Him to lead him forth by His 
Spirit. He realised again the sovereignty of his Lord, 
who might " remove me before anything has been 
done, or make the language so hard that I should 
never acquire it. or turn me home, or throw me use- 
less at some out-post/' 

He landed in Hong Kong. The spirit bounded with 
delight to meet the missionaries already on the field, 
and soon every one of those whom he there met, and 
others who arrived, had a deep seat in his affections. 
His letters tell this affection, how real it was, whether 
he is speaking of Mr W. C. Burns, whose preaching 
in Perth during the revival in 1 84:0 he never could 
forget, and whose thorough devoted ness to his Lord 
has stirred the zeal of very many ; or of other bre- 
thren from Scotland ; or of the American brethren, Mr 
Talmage and Mr Doty, with whom he felt entirely at 

one ; and so, also, when he speaks of the brethren to 

S 



274 



AMOY. 



the London Missionary Society, and the native mis- 
sionaries. It is the testimony of some of these bre- 
thren that, young comparatively as he was, he exer- 
cised almost immediately a most healthful influence 
on their circle by his single-minded, decided, uncom- 
promising, devoted conversation ; for they felt he 
" held communion with the skies." 

On the 6th he sailed to Swatow. "Went ashore, 
and called on Dr De la Porte. A door opened, and 
out came, in full Chinese dress and tail, W. C. Burns ! 
Taking me into his room, according to his old wont, 
he said, ' Let us engage in prayer,' in the identical 
old Perth tones ! Accompanied him on board a ship, 
and preached from Gal. iii. 13." On the 9th he 
reached his destination, Amoy, where he writes, " My 
soul would be bowed in thankfulness to God for 
the unbroken train of mercies all the way from 
home to this my destination!' 

Soon after he writes home — " Were it not for the 
vile opium traffic, the whole society here might be 
called agreeable. This, however, must divide them. 
It is England's clamant shame to tolerate this traffic. 
She is known in China as the nation that deals in it ; 
and the missionaries are constantly met with the 
objection, ' If you are Christians and good men, why 
do you bring that bad opium to our shores V I 
would ask you to pray that this sin and shame of our 




MISSION BUILDINGS AT AMOY. 



STUDY. 



275 



country may be removed It is by the acknowledg- 
ing of sin that God is pleased to make way for its 
removal. We might specially remember it on Satur- 
day evenings as a great barrier in the way of evan- 
gelizing this nation/' 

The beginning of ] 857 found him busy with the 
language, day by day. In the morning of that day, 
the Chinese Christians, according to their custom, 
came in to bid the brethren a good new year. In 
the afternoon we find him wandering away alone, till 
he arrives at a rock, where he prays for that land 
and for all the world. He began about the same 
time to write out a translation for himself of the book 
of Job, from the Hebrew, to keep up his knowledge of 
that language, and got on in this self-imposed task as 
far as the end of the 9th chapter. Every day, also, 
went on cheerfully and pleasantly with Chinese roots 
and tones, and was able to record ; " As to the lan- 
guage, feel that my prayer for help has not been alto- 
gether unanswered, so that I am kept from discourage- 
ment, and the study is made pleasant to me. 

" Never had the sense of shame for my native 
country till I saw her flag hanging over a large opium- 
receiving ship. Britain assuredly will have to answer 
to God for this traffic. It is in defiance of His laws, 
and of this nation itself; and she knows it all. Do 
they not die fast enough in their wickedness and 



276 



WATCHING FOR OPPORTUNITIES. 



idolatry, without England supplying poison for mind 
and body? The coolie trade, likewise, is most ini- 
quitous/ ' 

And now see him again in close dealing with his 
Lord. 

u 26th February, Thursday. — Day of fasting and 
prayer — 1 st, against sin ; 2d, for help in the language ; 
3d, for the sins of China, and the coming of Christ's 
kingdom in it; 4th, for the sin of England in directly 
increasing the crime of this people, by supplying them 
with opium ; the abominable coolie trade, also ! " 

Week by week, at the same time, he visited the 
Seamen's Hospital, and watched for opportunities of 
visiting British and American ships. Eager to use 
every acquirement for Christ as soon as possible, we 
find him trying to say a little about Christ to a 
Chinese father and three sons under a tree, as early 
as 11th May, though it was not till next year, 17th 
February, that he could record — " For the first time 
spoke to about a dozen Chinese in a village. Would 
not have stopped, but a man called to me to come and 
speak to him. This I could not refuse, and spoke 
as I was able for five or ten minutes/' 

Anxious to express his own and draw forth others' 
sympathy, we find him penning the following letter 
to the female teacher at one of the scenes of his 
former work at home : — 



LETTER TO BILLHEAD. 



277 



Amoy, 5th May 1857. 

" My Dear Miss E. — I write you as the easiest 
means of getting intelligence of Hillhead and of the 
believers there, and peradventure to hear if there are 
any precious souls seeking Jesus among them, as of 
old time. But may I first ask after the progress of your 
own soul ? I feel it a great condemnation of myself, 
after having journeyed this length for the service of 
Christ, and having professedly no other aim but the 
salvation of souls and the kingdom of God, to see the 
power of the old man, the strength of the old sins. 
It is to me a terrible proof of the power of sin in our 
members, that is, of the whole old man. Change of 
scene and place, alas ! do no more for this than they 
do for the black face of the Indian. But I trust it 
may have been different with you, and that your soul 
may have been carried on in the ways of God. Next 
to the joy arising from souls being gathered to Christ, 
is the news of believers prospering in the life of their 
souls. I trust and pray that the Lamb of God hath 
been seen more frequently sitting with you in the 
house, walking with you by the way and in the 
school, and meeting you at the seasons of secret 
devotion. what joy and glory to Him that these 
blood-bought ones are to follow the Lamb whitherso- 
ever He goeth, which again implies, that whitherso- 



278 



LETTEE TO HILLHEAD. 



ever they go, if their ways please Him, lo ! the Lamb, 
as it had been slain, walks before them ! And Miss 
W., that sister in Jesus with whom we continued in 
prayer and supplication that last night, how doth her 
soul prosper ? Is she keeping sight of the Bleeding 
One ? I feel bound to inquire. See that her soul 
sleepeth not, but that she is more and more a virgin 
awake and her lamp burning. (A dim-growing lamp 
how dreadful !) And how are the brethren at Hill- 
head ? Though so far from them, they are near my 
heart for Jesus's sake. Are they maintained in the 
love of God through trial and temptation ? What 
supply have they had in the preaching of the word ? 
Are they diligent in reading, and searching the Scrip- 
tures, not content with any supposed knowledge of 
the truth of God, but ever by prayer and industry 
lighting now and again upon goodly pieces of gold 
from the hid treasure of God ? Do they go as regu- 
larly into that blessed mine of the Scriptures as they 
do into those mines whereby they get the bread which 
perisheth ? Let them be stirred up by the example 
of Chinese believers. The boatman always takes the 
word with him to his boat ; the servant has it lying 
beside him, and at intervals of work you hear him 
reading out of the Book of Life, and the name of 
J esus sounds both above and below. One day I was 
out in a boat, the rower was an idolater, but the 



LETTEE TO BILLHEAD. 



279 



Chinese Christian who was along with me began at 
once to speak to him of Jesus, and the folly of wor- 
shipping pieces of wood. When we came to the land- 
ing, I observed something in the Christian's hand, 
and asked him what it was. He said it was the 
boatman 9 s idol, which he had given up, not being 
able to withstand the words of truth. So the stock 
was thrown to the moles and bats. There are souls 
being added to the Church in these parts ; are there 
any turning to the Lord in Hillhead or Maryhill ? 
Are the next empty seats around the gospel table to 
be taken by men and women, young men and maidens, 
at Hillhead ? or is China to have them ? Lately, an 
old man and his wife, of seventy years, and at the 
same time two young men, took places, I trust, at 
Jesus's table. Oh may these not rise up at the last 
day and double the damnation of hangers on and the 
between-two-opinion-holders of Hillhead ! Tell me 
all about the blessed children of the kingdom. I can- 
not name them all, hut I bear them much love in 
Christ Jesus. Ask them to pray and plead on behalf 
of this vast empire, and for my soul, and for my pro- 
gress in the language, that I maybe able to speak of the 
Saviour to perishing sinners. Let them pray also 
for the abolition of the abominable opium traffic, 
killing the bodies and souls of many, many poor 
Chinese. What of Mr Allan ? Tell me of God's 



280 



A YOUNG DUTCHMAN. 



work in any part of my dear native land. It is 
the only news that is cold water to my thirsty soul 
in this far land. With kind remembrances to all 
my friends and brethren, who love the Lord Jesus in 
sincerity, 

" Your servant, 

" D. S." 

How natural is 16th May. — "Scenes of labour at 
home often rise before me — Westfield, Hillhead, &c." 
On 9th July he writes — "Some of the older mis- 
sionaries say this is the hottest day they have known 
during twenty years/' 27th July — "Grapes from 
Formosa, from the Master's hand !" 30th July — 
" A day, not of fasting, as, on account of the heat, I 
found support necessary, but of prayer/' 3d August 
— "Good news from home. Pleasant letter from 
Frederick/' 

At this time, 1st August, in a letter to his mother, 
he relates an interesting conversion. A young Dutch- 
man met in with Christians at Hong-Kong. Enter- 
ing the sitting-room of a friend's house, he saw one 
in Chinese garb, and marvelled what Chinese could 
be reading " The Times." It turned out to be the 
missionary, W. C. Burns. Soon after, he went to 
hear Mr B. preach, and never could forget the ex- 
pression he used in preaching — " My dear fellow- 



STUDY OF THE MANDARIN DIALECT. 



281 



sinners {" Other circumstances helped him on, till 
he joined the meetings of the missionaries. After 
telling this incident, Mr Sandeman adds — u You will 
join, I know, beloved mother, in that word, 6 It is 
meet that we should make merry and be glad ; for 
this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; he was 
lost, and is found/ Pray for him and for me." 

He differed from his brethren in giving his first 
attention to the Mandarin dialect. Without pro- 
nouncing a judgment upon the soundness of his view, 
we give his reasons. " 1 st, It was common to the 
whole of China ; 2d, It is the source whence the 
colloquial, by various digressions, has fallen off and 
formed itself ; 3d, The help of dictionaries and col- 
loquial manuals suffice to carry a student on in the 
ordinary books ; 4th, If the opportunity is not em- 
braced at the first of thus acquiring the Mandarin 
language, there would be very many inducements 
afterwards to rest content without it." His attention 
to this dialect stood in the way of more immediate 
usefulness ; but the truth is, Mr Sandeman had evi- 
dently a cherished hope of being one day able to 
carry the gospel before the princes of the empire. 
It was in perfect consistency with this hope that, 
along with this direct aim at high attainments in 
Chinese, he was at the same time cultivating his 
intellect in other departments. 



282 



CLIMATE. 



" Amoy, 3d July 1857. 

"Please (writes he to his brother F.) send the 
Athenceum and Evangelical Review. One finds 
more the need of such helps to thinking abroad than 
at home. One is not at all aware at home how much 
of real intellectual products which keep the mind 
alive (for ideas form the days of the mind's life), are 
caught up, here and there and everywhere, in a highly 
cultivated reading society. When , all, or nearly all, 
these external sources are stopped, and you are de- 
pendent upon the internal spring alone of your own 
unaided mind, it is most humiliating to observe how, 
day after day, the longer you have been removed 
from these other streams, the narrower and narrower 
does that solitary one become. . . . 

" The trying part of the day here is between nine 
and eleven or twelve in the forenoon. The compara- 
tive cool of the morning passes into strong heat, with, 
perhaps, scarcely a breath of air, often none whatever. 
You feel languid, sleepy, uneasy ; and how one longs 
for the first breath of the sea-breeze. At last it comes 
with a stealthy sweetness, and pours gently and softly 
upon you as if it fanned you/' 

" After that there is generally a fine strong breeze 
till sun-down. Everything seems changed ; the mind 
and body, and Chinese characters and teacher, all 
awake, and you trot on quite cheerily." 



VISIT TO PECHUIA. 



283 



On loth September he accompanied Mr Burns to 
Peckiiia, where the Lord so remarkably began a 
work of awakening in the year 1854, and where He 
has never ceased to work. He has described the 
place and the people in some of his letters. The 
hills and the estuary, altogether, have a great resem- 
blance to the Firth of Clyde — the same beautiful 
variety of water and island, and far reaches of the 
sea, which you lose sight of, and then catch glimpses 
of again, as their winding arms enclose island and 
mainland, washing at times the base of considerable 
hills. The town stands on the bank of the river ; its 
population is only 5000, a small population com- 
paratively for a Chinese town ; and yet here it was 
the Lord, in His sovereignty, chose to work so re- 
markably in that year. Many souls, also, in the 
neighbouring glens and hamlets, were led to Christ. 

He wrote home the following letter, describing his 
visit to one of these scenes of labour : — 

"Pechuia is about twenty miles from Amoy — 
perhaps some ten of them frith or estuary, and 
the remainder a fine winding river. We started 
(Mr Douglas and myself) on Saturday morning, about 
nine o'clock, in the ' Gospel Boat,'* which is well- 

* A river boat was afterwards purchased for the use of the 
missionaries, for occasional living in, as well as travelling by 
from the funds left to the mission by Mr Sandeman. 



284 



THE GOSPEL BOAT. 



known to many of the Sabbath scholars whom I had 
the pleasure of seeing last year. By eleven o clock 




THE u GOSPEL BOAT." 



we had reached the entrance to the Pechuia river, 
after an interesting sail. 

" As our purpose on this occasion was principally 
to visit Ma-ping, we then took the road for that 
place across the hills. These are not very high, but 
rich in the products of Chinese industry. At every 
available spot of their ascent the ground is levelled, 



VISIT TO MA-PING. 



285 



a soil prepared, and wheat, barley, rice, or the betel 
root, is seen growing. The valleys at that season 
were covered with the rich blossom of the peach 
tree. 

u At Ma-ping a good many of the Christians were 
waiting to receive us : and though I could not un- 
derstand their tongue, it was easy to make out the 
warm and village-like welcome they gave us. The 
whole scene reminded me much of what I had wit- 
nessed among the highlands of Scotland. At evening 
worship the room was full of eager and earnest faces, 
anxious to hear the Word of Life. 

" Next morning, the Sabbath, they were early-astir, 
and prayer and praise were poured forth as from the 
heart. There was some meaning in the confession 
of these people, for during the previous weeks some 
of them had had their fields bared of their ripe pro- 
duce, and were otherwise persecuted for the name of 
Jesus. But they stand fast, by the strength of their 
Lord, and, as it may be supposed, would be among 
those to whom Christ's word was precious on that 
His holy day. The church was a large room, and 
the minister (Mr Douglas) was placed at the side 
opposite the street, so that his voice reached not only 
the members who were in front, but any in the street 
who stopped to listen. At the outside were two 
forms filled with Chinese women, several having 



286 



HAPPY IN HIS WORK. 



children in their arms. Among them were some 
awakened souls seeking the salvation of Jesus. From 
their secluded habits, it shews there is a work going 
on, when such hearers are among the congregation. 

" As betimes it has happened among the highland 
glens, so in this region ; souls have been brought to 
the knowledge of Jesus up among these secluded 
Chinese valleys ; one here, and another there, set as 
single lights in the few hamlets or small villages of 
dark idolatry ; and all to the glory of Him who 
passes by the rich and the learned, and oftentimes 
seeks out his own in quiet places of the earth. 

"They shewed much Christian affection at part- 
ing, asking us to come soon back again; and it pleases 
the Master still to be adding souls to the number of 
believers in that region/' 

It was just such a visit as was fitted to brace the 
soul of one who could so truly say, while at home— 
" Nothing so draws me to ministers as their success 
in winning souls to Christ." 

" My life at present " (he writes to his brother F.) 
" is made a very happy one to me. Learning a diffi- 
cult language, but with all the necessary means at 
hand ; its antiquity, and the vast multitude who 
read it, and the aim ever to be had in view, to carry 
the message of the salvation of God to these as 
perishing sinners — these cause each day, with its 



RULES REGARDING HEALTH. 



287 



heat, or damps, or winds, to pass cheerily over my 
head. As Jacob's time seemed short because of the 
love he bore Rachel, my months pass sweetly and 
quickly over because of the love of the divine 
Master." 

" 3d October. — Every second person of the foreign 
mission community laid aside with fever ; myself 
remarkably well till this evening. Aft er finishing some 
letters for home, called at the hospital to see some 
sailors, and returned by Dr Hirschberg's. Did not 
feel quite so well; and now my pulse is at ]06°. 
Whatever be the will of God, my soul is for Jesus 
only: Jehovah-Tsidkenu — Jehovah, my righteous- 
ness. 

" l &th October. — On looking back to the illness 
from which I am emerging, I think that I was rather 
incautious in rowing in the morning after the sun 
was up. One is constantly liable to forget the differ-, 
ence between this climate and home; but common 
sense and experience, with the consideration that the 
work of God is interrupted by illness, should put me 
on my guard in future. 

" Should aim at being back from morning exercise 
by sunrise, that is, when it has got above the hills to 
the east — also, always to have an umbrella in case of 
being overtaken, and not to row in the sun in the 
morning, though with a sun-hat, All kinds of over- 



288 PEACE AND TEANQUILLITY. 



exertion, mental or physical, it is necessary to guard 
against in this climate ; and the least lassitude or 
symptom of exhaustion should not he unheeded. 
'Edgars/a* in all things seems peculiarly necessary in 
this climate till one is seasoned. Exposure to the 
sun and over-exertion are the two points to be watched. 
Prayer and care — let these be my motto ; results are 
wholly with God ; and my soul bows down before 
Him in whose hands are my life, and light, and joy, 
and all in all. Truly we are crushed before the moth, 
and vain is the help of man. 

" Satan is ever on the alert ; and, after the period 
of sickness, is already resuming the attacks incident 
to a time of health. 

" 29th October. — A day of some help from above, 
some glimmerings of the true light which now shineth, 
seemed to penetrate the darkness of the earthly and 
carnal nature. How different from mere natural 
ideas or thoughts, which may amuse or for a while 
distract the mind from ennui or fatigue. The latter 
may exhilarate the spirits, may relieve the mind by 
giving it some pabulum ; but any of the annoyances 
of life, any of the crosses, any of the little smarts 
which must incessantly meet us, upset one very 
quickly ; but the tranquillity which light and peace 
from God bring, seems to be of a kind made for pass- 
* Temperance — in its wide Scripture sense. 



LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 



289 



ing through these little troubles or great, made to 
stand and overcome them. It fits of its own nature for 
the performance of duties that may be irksome. 
The former, having respect to the imagination or the 
mere reasoning faculty, begins and ends very much 
there ; but this breathing from God, this true light 
from Jesus Christ, penetrates equally through all 
parts of the soul and of the entire person, illumi- 
nating, sweetening, sanctifying, tranquillising, and 
strengthening the whole man, and fitting it for the 
sober reality of things, and also for their truest enjoy- 
ment/' 

Here follows a letter breathing something of 
home : — 

c< Amoy, 9th December 1857. 

" My Dear Mother — I am sorry you are to spend 
this winter alone. I trust that He will be with you 
in this as in other trials. I believe in the constancy 
of the love of Him, who Himself, when about to 
drink the cup which the Father was giving to Him, 
had an angel sent down to strengthen Him. He 
will sustain you either by some ' messenger' of his, 
some believer, or some gracious providence of His ; 
or He will Himself draw near as the Angel of the 
everlasting covenant, and comfort your heart by the 
pure consolations of His love and peace. He will say, 
4 Canst thou, a mother, not forget thy poor son, and 

T 



290 



LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 



shall I forget thee V Believing in the sweet, holy, 
unchangeable love of that shining heavenly One, by 
faith I would look and see the outspread wings of 
His everlasting love, and my own mother once more 
and nearer than ever embraced under their ample 
shadow. 

a I have a good letter from Mr Milne of Calcutta, 
introducing the engineer of one of the steamers. 
The news you give of the birth of souls through the 
preaching of Mr North is very cheering. May the 
people of God be only stirred up by this beginning of 
blessing to plead the more earnestly and constantly, 
until the large blessing for Scotland and England 
come. The felt dryness and lack of spiritual blessing 
was one good token, and now God has given a little 
rain. Oh that none may stay their asking or pant- 
ing ' as the hart for the water brooks/ till God be 
pleased to send — what 1— floods, ' I will pour floods 
upon the dry ground/ How blessed a work to spend 
part of every day in pleading for this glorious bless- 
ing for souls in Scotland. I long to hear of souls 
there and in England, almost as if I were still labour- 
ing there. Tell those in Perth with whom I used to 
unite in prayer, that in spirit I am still amongst 
them pleading for souls, and that as they look for 
their Master's reward, they must never cease to plead 
and watch for the blessing, the kind of blessing which 



SELF-DENYING HABITS. 



291 



they have known in times past,* and which their 
Lord hath promised still, and then I know they will 
not forget to pour out prayers for the vast sea of per- 
ishing souls which lies around me here. 

" There were twelve baptisms in the London Mis- 
sionary Society Church on Sabbath last. In one 
case a father and his child were baptized at the same 
time, first the water poured on the old father's, then 
on the child's head. 

" Your affectionate son, 

« D. S." 

" 26th December. — Took my Saturday walk to the 
top of Sam-Td. A day to be remembered for the 
rich mercy of God." 

" 29th.> — By the alarum clock, enabled to rise at 
four o'clock, and find it as ever a great help. My 
inner life becomes more definite, and in some degree, 
through the mercy of God, I know that I live. Prayer 
is then indeed prayer, relaxation is true relaxation, 
and study true study/' 

" The effect of yesterday's fast, as usual, felt to-day, 
as if there was nothing between the soul and spiritual 
things ; clearing the vision of the soul, as the glasses 
of a telescope, soiled and covered with dust, are 
cleaned, and it is again raised to the eye/' 
* 1840. 



292 



REVIEW OF THE PAST YEAR. 



"31st December. — By some false view of the gos- 
pel, I have too little of that experience, ' Stand in 
awe and sin not 'pass the time of your sojourning 
here in fear/ I believe that through want of this I 
have tended to turn the liberty of the gospel into 
licentiousness, and have been oftentimes, and deeply, 
and in several respects defiled before God thereby. 
He has put my foot into so large and wide a room, 
that I have not feared in coming near to the verge of 
evil. I believe that very uniformly for many days 
this has been the tempter's plan with my souL 
Deliver me, God, and put in my heart the godly 
fear of sin ; keep me clinging every moment to the 
Saviour J esus Christ, for Thy great name's sake. 

" What I may call my only cross since coming here 
is the opium trade. The extent of this trade, and my 
own countrymen standing as the chief agents in it, 
have been a heavy weight upon me during all the 
months of my sojourn here. The unashamed manner 
of it is an aggravation. 

" I feel also the strong current of worldliness pre- 
valent. Lord, keep me, enable me ever to feel the 
necessity of making a decided stand for God and His 
gospel, against the spirit of the world/' 

" On the other hand, when I review the mercies 
of the year, I have been altogether crowned with 
His lovingkindness. Since the day that I stepped 



PUEPOSES FOR THE FUTURE. 



293 



into the ship which was to bear me on the way- 
hither, even to this hour, I have only to sing of love, 
and tender mercy, and compassion. There has been 
as manifest an increase of heaven's bliss and heavenly 
income as I have ever experienced. Since quitting 
my native land and friends, and dear believers and 
children in J esus, for His name's sake, in some way 
He has "made all things new but in such a way 
that my soul thirsts still as dry land for the mani- 
festation of His love, and truth, and power. He has 
borne me (but how calmly and peacefully) as on 
eagles' wings. I have never had a pang, or shadow 
of real grief or bitterness, on account of what I have 
left behind ; the love of Jesus, the tender mercies of 
God, have so calmly and continually filled my heart 
and soul. The divine joys and the love of God 
which have been poured into my needy, thirsting soul, 
have passed in depth and calmness, and a kind of 
naturalness and simplicity, all that I have ever known. 
Though sought for by prayer, and supplication, and 
fasting, yet when they have come, it has been as 
those showers which tarry not for man nor wait for 
the sons of men. Grace, the freest and the loveliest, 
has reigned through righteousness throughout all 
and every movement. 

u I would have three things specially before me, 
" I. That there be full time each day for prayer 



294 



LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 



unto the God of my life; and for the reading and 
diligent searching of the Scriptures ; and for this 
purpose, if possible, to rise at four o'clock 

"II. Attainment of the language. 

u III. Prayer on behalf of China and her perish- 
ing millions. 

" 8th March. — I am taking a brief holiday ; sailed 
to Pagoda island ; a beautiful day. Sang praise to 
God and my Saviour, with the concertina for a harp. 
Soul in exercise before the great God, and drawn out 
in love to Immanuel. The time on that solitary isle, 
in these distant seas, much to be remembered. It 
was a strangely sweet and heavenly season. 

" My mind recurred again to the solemn scene 
through which I had been recently passing, and I 
sang over the hymns which I used to sing with the 
departed Mrs Doty. I seemed to rise above death 
and the grave, and to sing again these pilgrim songs, 
as if myself on the threshold of glory, yea, almost 
within it. 

" On my way home the stars shone out beautifully/' 

Here is a part of a pleasant, playful letter to his 
brother, in the midst of Chinese work : — 

• " Amot, 8th March 1858. 

" My Dear F. — You will have heard all the news 



LETTER. 



295 



from Canton. Lord Elgin passed up by Amoy to 
Shanghai ; and with whom should he spend two hours 
at Swatow, but with that 1 diligent man in his busi- 
ness/ W. C. Bums. He invited him to breakfast 
with him on board her Majesty's Plenipot. ship. 
Thus does that man 8 stand before kings/ Lord E. 
was present at our service on Sabbath, conducted by 
the missionaries, none of whom are Episcopal. He 
came in undress, so that scarcely any body knew him. 
He is little and stout, but quite like a man to carry 
through business. He asked the Consul a good deal 
about the mission affairs, and had introduced to him 
the senior of the missionaries. Another magnate 
was the Bishop of Victoria, who, the previous Sab- 
bath, officiated and dispensed the Communion. His 
lawn sleeves looked rather odd in these distant parts: 
but Episcopacy is shorn of much that gives attrac- 
tion to her at home when the State pedestal is 
removed, and she stands pretty much on her own 
merits. The real bishops are the missionaries, who 
could point to some three or four hundred of a 
gathered flock from among the heathen, and whom, 
we trust, a higher power than any supposed apostolical 
succession has made farrtxfatov$ (overseer.-" . 

(i Two magnates of the lower species have lately 
come to Amoy, the former being a fine tiger. He 
had swum across from the mainland. The story is, 



296 



LETTER. 



that very early one morning two fishermen had just 
roused themselves from sleep in their boats, when 
one of them saw, as he supposed, a foreigner's dog 
swimming towards them. Hoping to get some re- 
ward by the stranger, he offered to help him into 
their boat, when a good firm bite in the shoulder 
told him to mind his own business ! The next that 
was heard of the striped gentleman was his landing 
at Emung Hang, a suburb of Amoy, where I pass 
almost daily. An unwonted collection of gongs and 
shouting drove him into a temple ; and at last, some 
twelve soldiers having been obtained, they succeeded, 
by shots from the roof, in bringing him low ! I saw 
him afterwards. From snout to tip he measured 
more than seven feet ; the body about five. The 
stripes were not so finely marked as in the ordinary 
Bengal tiger, but he is said to be of the same species ; 
so that you see we are favoured with some of the 
Garnivora in this region. The flesh was purchased 
by the Chinese as an extraordinary and exquisite 
meat ! The bones are used for medicine, it being 
rationally supposed that the powder made of such 
strong stuff must give corresponding strength to all 
who imbibe it ! The other visitor, or rather capture, 
is a pelican, taken in a net at Swatow, and sent to 
the naturalist whom I once mentioned to you. This 
bird measures fourteen feet across the wings, and 



LETTER, 



297 



eats no end of pounds of fish. The albatross, of 
different species, is also found in these parts, though 
not usually so large as the famous Cape birds. I 
don't know if I mentioned that hawks and kites, of 
all sorts and sizes, are continually hovering about 
the harbour and among the hills. Yesterday, I 
counted thirty, sailing and swimming in the 8 balmy 
air/ at one single solitary island, where I had gone 
for a sail. As many as sixty have been seen at such 
a place in a still evening. 

" Do you remember a young Episcopalian student, 
a clergyman, who took breakfast with us in Edin- 
burgh, about five years ago ? He was introduced by 
Mrs MTntosh, Geddes, He had then, as you may 
remember, some thoughts of China. He dropped in 
upon us the other day, just arrived from England, 
and on his way to Xing-po as a missionary. As he 
did not at all know that I was in China, the meeting 
was to both of us very unexpected and pleasant. 
My paper is done. 

" Tour ever affectionate brother/' 

He was fond of rowing in the Chinese boats ; and 
his tall figure, as he stood erect, working with two 
oars, often elicited the surprise of the natives, who 
could not understand why a man who did not need 
to do it, should occupy himself in such an exercise. 



298 



WATCHING AT DEATH-BEDS. 



But we are now approaching the scenes that ended 
his career. On 27th February, he stood by the 
deathbed of Mrs Doty. He writes : " The strongest 
of her sex in the community has been removed." 
Then he speaks of "Yearnings of heart over the 
motherless children and adds, "Never seemed to 
reach farther into death and the hereafter/' It had 
been a night of most brilliant moonlight, while he 
stood with Mr Doty in that chamber of death. "There 
was not prayer so much, as the soul wholly God's— 
burning up as a steady flame unto Him I" One of 
his last home letters thus refers to the sad event : — 

"The death of the wife of one of the American 
missionaries seemed, and has been, a great loss. She 
met with the Chinese women for prayer and the 
reading of the Scriptures once a week, and was much 
beloved and looked up to by them. But He, in whose 
hands are all events for the good of His Church, 
knoweth how to bring spiritual blessing out of tem- 
poral trial. The large number of Chinese who fol- 
lowed the earthly remains to their last resting-place 
were deeply moved — many in tears. And since then 
there has been a marked quickening among the 
native brethren ; and there may have been a looking 
more closely to their ' lamps/ and a firmer 'girding 
up of their loins/ lest the ' Son of Man/ the glorious 
Bridegroom, should come on them suddenly. In- 



BLESSING AT HOME FROM MISSIONARY FRIENDS. 299 

quirers have been led to a deeper searching of heart, 
seeing that death, to all out of Christ, is but the 
prelude to everlasting woe, and this may arrive on 
them at any moment of any day. 

" Among other hopeful cases, I understand that 
five Chinese women are applicants for baptism in 
Amoy at present. We may not complain when J esus 
removes well-established believers, even though they 
be missionaries or their helpmates, when He causes 
many to stand up in their room, new precious souls 
from among the heathen. 

"Nor let any one remain at home merely for 
the sake of relations, how dear soever they may be 
to them. While the departed sister in Jesus lay 
a-dying here — having quitted a home in America, 
the only converted child, I believe, out of a large 
family — what was God doing in that house? The 
father, if a Christian, had been buried in, and the 
seed all but choked by, the cares of this life — but his 
soul then got a quickening ; the old praying mother 
called it a baptism, which she believed would remain 
in him even to the end. The eldest brother of the 
family had been hopefully converted, and the youngest 
daughter, and many acquaintances. Faithful is he 
that hath promised. ..." 

" SOth March. — Monday after preaching. After 
forenoon work, set sail in a boat, and proceeded far 



300 



MEDITATION AND COMMUNION. 



on the sea. Struck the mainland, and climbed to 
the top of one of the high hills there. Seemed to 
get the good now to myself of the services of the 
Sabbath, as if the finest of the wheat were given. 
At the summit it was made as a sacramental season 
— my soul was filled with the truth and the love of 
Jesus. The 110th Psalm was given me to sing, and 
especially the third verse, over and over again, think- 
ing of China. 

" 4 A willing people in Thy day 

Of power shall come to Thee.' &c. 

Ci Eealised, in some measure, Heb, i. 14 — ' Are 
they (the angels) not all ministering spirits, sent forth 
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation/ 

" Saw Pagoda Island in the distance, and remem- 
bered my day spent there. The larks were singing 
beautifully overhead. 

"6th June 1858. — Communion with the native 
Chinese ; made a happy time at the table, and after- 
wards ; viewing the bread and wine as tokens and 
sensible proofs that Jesus had died, and was to come 
again. 

" Where is assurance or peace to be found, but in 
walking by faith in the altogether completed work — 
the entirely-filled-up righteousness of the Lord J esus 
Christ ? The great love of Christ has been drawing 
somewhat nearer." 



THE LAMP TRIMMED. 



301 



Some of the next extracts are surely remarkable, 
now that we know the event. 

] 8th June. — " A blink in the morning of the Song 
of Solomon — ' Let him kiss me/ To me to live is 
Christ. Sometimes my life in some of its phases 
seems like a romance of love and joy/ 1 Then he 
speaks of warnings from the climate. 17th June, he 
meditates on "Jacob's request to his son Joseph as 
to his burial/' 30th— " Mr Doty s child died " and he 
cries for sanctification, and the preparing of himself 
for death. ] 8th July — " Breathe, of thy sanctifying, 
illumining Spirit, into my heart, and, as it were, 
through the outward frame of the body ; for it is 
written — 'Your whole spirit, soul, and body/" 

" Tuesday, 20th July. — Still many said to be 
dying. Preserved hitherto of the mercy of God. 

" Up earlier — 4.30. Row ; and Scriptures and 
Psalms made good. Found, as usual, the good effect 
of an early start ; and time for the thoughts to be 
collected before God previous to meeting with men. 

" Forenoon reading and prayer with my friend, 
Mrs T. Evening prayer-meeting with Smith and 
Grant ; yet soul much darkened by my sin. Though 
long kept off, the enemy is ready to return again. 
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation/' 

"2tth July, Saturday. — Gracious Saviour, my 
Lord and sole abiding friend, be Thou near to keep 



302 



BREATHINGS — LAST SERMON. 



and sanctify. Deeply hast Thou been pleased to 
satisfy my heart with Thine own love ; nor hast 
Thou withheld all those human founts for which man 
naturally yearns. Come Thou near now on this day of 
preparation for preaching the holy and blessed, though 
searching, truth. Thy service, my Saviour, is sweet 
beyond all thought — to preach in the name of Jesus. 

" Dwelling in this large, high-roofed dwelling, with 
its broad verandahs, the evenings especially I much 
enjoy. A touch of sickness, with health restored ; 
dwelling near kind friends, so that I have society and 
solitude combined ; an instrument of sacred music ; 
moonlights of surpassing yet mild brightness ; with 
now and then a passing sail ; combined with the 
notes of two snow-white turtle-doves, whose gentle 
cry, morning, noon, and night, re-echoes to my 
heart the sounds and scenes of my far-distant, native 
land" — these are some of the things which he enu- 
merates, that awoke peculiar feelings in his soul. 

And now the end was at hand. On the 25th of 
July he preached on 2 Cor. xiii. 5, S£ Examine your- 
selves whether ye be in the faith/' a word in season 
previous to partaking of the Lord's Supper. Then, 
on the 26th, he writes : — " Hundreds said to be 
dying daily in Amoy from cholera. ' Be ye also ready' 
— midnight — cockcrowing — or in the morning." 

Next day, 27th : — " Day somewhat darkened by 



HIS LAST WRITTEN WORDS. 



SOS 



the flesh. Afternoon ; reading in the Lamentations, 
found it good/' Then (though the connecting link is 
wanting) follow the words, " Love and Liberty" 

These were the last words he wrote. "Love 
AND Liberty P Surely this is the breathing of a soul 
almost already free ! It is like Henry Martyn's aspi- 
rations, which were the last words that man of God 
ever wrote : " Thought with sweet comfort and peace 
of my God ; in solitude, my company, my friend, and 
benefactor. O when shall time give place to eternity ! 
When shall appear that new heaven and new earth 
wherein dwelleth righteousness V 

Dr Legge, missionary at Hong Kong, on speaking of 
his death, remarks, " When I looked at him I thought, 
' You will have the desire of your heart, in living 
manyyears among the Chinese to see them converted [' 
But I little thought how soon that armour on him 
would be laid aside/' One in his native land sang of 
him no more than the truth in the following lines : — 

China fob, Christ, 
Count not the pk%ce ! 
'Twas written on his brow ; 
Even while his hand, 
Through his own land, 
Lov'd still the seed to sow, 
The distant prize 
Would ever rise 
And whisper, " Let me go." 
Did not the flash of his dark eye 
Foretell of early victory ? 



304 



TESTIMONY OF OTHERS. 



China for Christ, 
Count not the price ! 
'Tis written on his tomb — 

Upon the sail that bore him far, 

Upon his standard in heaven's war, 

Upon the volume in his hand, 

In cypher strange of Sinim's land, 

Upon his heart where like a shrine 

Affection clasped the love divine, 

Nor bathed in any shallower love, 

Than of the Bridegroom from above, 

Upon his soul that kindled high 

To finish faith's fight gloriously, 

Upon his pallid, stately form 

Dark pestilence has seized by storm, 

"Writ with a hieroglyphic pen 

In lines of love beyond our ken, 
Gleams the device, 
China for Christ, 
Count not the price. — M. P. B. 

Perhaps nothing more characteristically true could 
have been said of his death, than was said of him by 
one of his bosom friends, Mr Coventry : " Here is one 
man, at least, who, when he comes to die, has nothing 
to add to the daily, hourly, thoughts and experience 
of his ordinary life V 

On hearing of his death (Dr James Hamilton said), 
that saying of John Foster was the first thought that 
rushed into his mind : " The grandest use of a life- 
time on earth is the opportunity it gives of advancing 
the glory of God/' 

Mr W. C. Burns wrote home : " When, little 



TESTIMONY OF FELLOW LABOURERS. 



305 



more than a year ago, I visited Amoy, 1 had much 
sweet intercourse with him ; and as the vesse] that 
conveyed me back to Swatow left the harbour, he 
stood on the balcony above and waved to me until 
we were out of sight. Now we may imagine him 
from a higher elevation beckoning us to follow on in 
the Christian race, laying aside every weight, and 
running that we may reach the prize/' 

Another wrote : " Do not think his labours in 
China have been in vain. I believe he has been one 
of the greatest blessings to all the missionaries in 
Amoy. Through his unwearied prayerfulness, through 
his labours of love, through his great humility and 
fidelity, he contributed greatly to raise the tone of 
godliness in the entire missionary circle, and to effect 
a more distinct separation between the Church and 
the world." 

Mr Grant conducted the English service at the 

grave, andMr Talmage and Mr J. Stronach the Chinese. 

He is buried in the small island of Kolongsoo, right 

opposite Amoy. The tomb-stone has on the main slab 

at the top the inscription: — " e Sacred to the Memory 

of the Rev. David Sandeman, Missionary to the 

Chinese from the Presbyterian Church in England. 

He died of cholera at Amoy, July 31. 1858, aged 32 

years. From the time when he gave himself to his 

Lord's work, he entered upon a career of self-surrender 

u 



306 



HIS GRAVE, 



which seemed to know no pause, and no abatement 
till he entered on his blessed rest/ And again below 
are the words, ' Surely I come quickly : Amen. 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus/ " 

On the green-coloured stones of the two sides 
which support the upper one, there are quotations 
from Scripture in English ; the one is, " death, 
where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? 
The sting of death is sin ; and the . strength of sin 
is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us 
the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." On 
the opposite side are the verses on which Mr San- 
deman preached on board ship at Swatow, when 
he arrived there on his way to Amoy on a Sab- 
bath. The words are, " Cursed is every one that 
continueth not in all things that are written in 
the book of the law to do them. Christ hath re- 
deemed us from the curse of the law, being made 
a curse for us. 3 ' On the corresponding stones of the 
two ends of the tomb are inscriptions in Chinese, 
the one giving the name, country, and occupation 
of the deceased, with the date of his death, and the 
other consists of some Chinese verses on the vic- 
tory of the Christian over death. The tomb may be 
seen from the windows of the house in Amoy where 
he used to study. 

That grave will teach its lessons from year to year. 



HIS LAST WORKING-DAY. 



307 



Two of those who most recently went forth, Mr 
Swanson and Mr Mackenzie, tell in their letters how 
on that spot they felt themselves drawn anew to 
devote themselves to their Lord, and to think of the re- 
ward of His servants at the Resurrection of The Just. 

The letters of his friends have supplied a few 
interesting details of Mr Sandeman's last moments. 
His illness lasted only twenty hours, and it was at 
the close of a busy week that he was called away. On 
the Thursday of that week, the child of one re- 
siding in MrTalmage's house died of cholera. Mr 
Sandeman was much occupied ministering to the 
bereaved mother, praying often with her, and after 
the child's death plaiting a wreath of flowers for 
the coffin to soothe and gratify maternal feeling. 
He did not attend the funeral on Friday, feeling 
unwelL The same day he met Dr Bell, who re- 
members that he left him saying, "We can't tell 
which of us may be the next ; but none of us liveth 
to himself, and no one diethto himself ; for whether 
we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die 
unto the Lord/' That day, Mr Doty s little child 
sickened ; and at midnight Mr Sandeman himself 
was obliged to seek medical assistance, for unmis- 
takeable symptoms of cholera had appeared. His 
case soon assumed an alarming aspect. 

All the missionaries successively, in true brotherly 



308 



HIS DEATH-BED. 



ove, were at his bedside in the course of the morn- 
ing, to whom he said, " Don't come too near, for your 
own sake and for the sake of the work/' Mr Smith 
mentions, that the fourteenth chapter of John was 
among the last portions of Scripture read to him, and 
which he was able to follow. To a question of Mr 
Grant's, as to what gave him confidence in that hour, 
his reply was, " From-head-to-foot, righteousness !" 
— a reply most characteristic of the man, his soul's 
delight having ever been to proclaim Christ's righte- 
ousness as the sinner's robe. When Mr Talmage asked 
him if he had any message to leave for his friends, 
his reply was not less characteristic, " Tell my mother 
I thought of her, because she taught me the way to 
Jesus." To Mr Talmage he said, "Tabernacle dis- 
solving !" and spoke of the love of Jesus being " like a 
cloudless sky ; the one dark spot in it has been my 
sins." Mr Doty quoted the words, 1 John i. 7, " The 
blood of J esus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all 
sin." " I know it does ! I know it does !" was his 
prompt response.* He replied to Mr A. Stronach, 

* There must have been a cloud on the mind of Bishop Wilson 
of Calcutta, at the time he spoke of this verse to Archdeacon 
Pratt. The Bishop was on his deathbed, and the Archdeacon 
had quoted 1 John i. 7, as a word in season, but was met by the 
reply — " You must take it in connection with the context ; it is 
only for those who walk in the light." Upon this, the Archdeacon 
tried to comfort him by asserting — " You have striven so to walk 



HIS DEATH-BED. 



309 



who asked him if the Great High Priest was precious 
to him in that solemn hour : " He always has been, 
He always has been, exceedingly precious, exceed- 
ingly precious, from the moment I knew Him till 
now/' Soon after, he said, " May grace be given 
you to pray earnestly for China and its perishing 
millions I" 

Mr John Stronach inquired if he felt much pain ? 

in the light." Did these good men mean to say that the blood of 
Christ is not to be used by sinners until they have first walked in 
the light ? Is it only sinners who have made certain attainments 
that are warranted to use that precious blood? Must sinners 
begin by walking in the light, and then afterwards hope to get a 
right to the blood ? Does holiness precede pardon ? Does sanc- 
tification prepare us for justification ? Surely this would be put- 
ting a price on the waters (Isai. Iv. 1) ; it would be exacting money 
ere a sinner was entitled to rest on Christ's work. But no — there 
was some cloud on the mind of these two pastors in applying the 
truth to their own case. Bengel (the well-known author of the 
" Gnomon to the New Testament ") was a thoroughly accurate 
critic and scholar, as well as sound divine. When he was dying, 
a young scholar visited him, from whom he asked one word of 
comfort ere he left the room ; and when the young man gave that 
text, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all 
sin," Bengel's whole soul accepted it — " That is the very word I 
want ! It is enough ! " Yes ; we come to the blood directly and 
immediately, and then learn to walk in the light. Nor does the 
context of 1 John i. 7 put anything between us sinners and the 
blood. On the contrary, it reminds us that if we are walking in 
the light, and have, therefore, fellowship with God, we owe all to 
the blood which cleanseth us ; and so it teaches us to continue to 
the last making use of that which we began with — to wit, the 
blood that gives us boldness to enter the Holiest (Heb. x. 19). 



310 



HIS DEATH-BED. 



He said he did not, and that his only pain since he 
had known Christ had been sin. Then he spoke 
again : " The love of Jesus is like the sea around 
you \" And he sent this as his last message to 
his friends, " Tell them, it was only last night, when 
I had a little more strength, that the love of Jesus 
came rushing into my soul like the waves of the 
sea — as if it would rend me — so that I had to cry, 
Stop, Lord, it is enough ! O the height, and depth, 
and length, and breadth, of the love of Jesus!" 
(as he said this, he waved his hand with a motion ex- 
pressive of desire to see nothing else), " and I was 
constrained to cry out, 

All too long have we been parted ! 
Let my spirit speed to His."* 

Kallying in the afternoon, he arranged some tem- 
poral affairs, making everything bear directly on the 
glory of His Lord. Once, when he had said, " I am 
cut off in the midst of my days — how sad !" Dr 
Bell asked if he wished to live for the sake of preach- 
ing the gospel to the Chinese, " Aye, that is it !" he 
exclaimed. He then sent discriminating messages to 
several individuals, whose state of mind he had been 
well acquainted with. To one who had long "hung 
about the doors of the kingdom/' he sent this warn- 
ing, " There is nothing but hell for those who go no 
* See p. 70. 



HIS DEATH-BED. 



311 



farther than the door ! There is no middle place/' 
This message he solemnly repeated a second time. 

The pain increased ; the want of air distressed 
him ; but he was able audibly to join in the J 16th 
Psalm to some extent, giving fervent thanks to his 
Lord for His mercy and kindness toward him through- 
out all his life. After that he gradually sank, till 
about eight o'clock he ceased to breathe. 

That was Saturday night. The funeral took place 
next day, at half-past five in the evening. What a 
Sabbath he had that day begun ! 

One of the brethren. Mr Carstairs Douglas, was 
absent that Sabbath, preaching to the members of the 
little church in the neighbouring village of Ma-ping. 
Returning next morning, he was shewn the new-made 
grave ! and then entered the very room where his 
fellow-labourer used to study and pray. He found 
books and papers lying as they were left three days 
before, ready for use again, if it had been the Lord's 
will. The tent was there — the soldier was gone. 
The Captain of salvation had called him away to 
stand near His person within the vail. 

And now. what shall we say as to the Lord's ways ? 
We have not sufficient light to enable us to interpret 
providences aright. " Let us judge nothing before the 
time, until the Lord come/' (1 Cor. iv. 5). One thing, 



312 



A SCKIPTUKAL ANALOGY. 



however, we may ask, Was it not thus that the 
Master dealt with one of His most loved apostles ? 
James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John, was 
prepared (as we would say) for great services, by being 
shewn things which others were not, time after time. 
Did not the Lord select him as one who, in the house 
of J aims, should witness death conquered ? and on 
the Transfiguration-hill, see the glory of the coming 
kingdom revealed ? He was one of four who, on the 
Mount of Olives, sat over against the temple, and 
heard the Lord tell the ruin of Jerusalem, and the 
signs of His Coming again. And did not this man 
share in the precious privilege of being taken down 
to Gethsemane, with only two companions, there to 
be present when our cup of wrath was put to the lips 
of the Surety ? And did he not receive power from 
the Holy Ghost as fully as any one on the day of 
Pentecost ? Who, then, more fit than James to tes- 
tify fully of Jesus the Saviour? Who better fur- 
nished ? Yet, he is cut off ere ever he has been more 
than a few months engaged in His Master's work. 
His remarkable training in the school of Christ, 
was proved by the event to be as much a prepara- 
tion for soon leaving earth and being with Christ 
above, as for labour and service here. It seems to have 
been even thus with Mr Sandeman. And an import- 
ant lesson is taught us by such cases as these. They 



THE LESSON OF HIS EARLY REMOVAL, 313 

say to us, Reckon not upon an after time for using 
what the Lord gives ; make immediate use of all : 
attend much to ordinary, daily living. It may be, 
this is all the opportunity of serving the Lord that is 
to be afforded you. 

The Son of Man sends forth many labourers into 
His fields, but He has many more whom He could 
send, if He chose. He employs the one, because He 
likes to honour His servants by using them as instru- 
ments ; He sends home the other soon, because He 
would have us know that He does not need to use 
instruments any further than pleases Him. He is 
seen in vision coming in the white cloud, having on 
His head the Golden Crown, and in his hand the Sharp 
Sickle, (Rev. xiv. 14). The voice from heaven cries, 
" Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord ; for they 
rest from their labours, and their works do follow 
them and when He has thus called them to rest, 
He Himself finishes the reaping which they, by His 
grace, had so well begun. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 



